Writing with a keen eye for detail as well as a real empathy with the first generation of wage-earning women, Tentler reconstructs the day-to-day realities of life on the job, in the home, and in the industrial neighborhoods of major cities.
"[A] beautifully written study...[It] offers a truly fresh perspective on women's past work experience while at the same time raising important new questions about the interpretation of present trends."--Social Science Journal"A vivid picture of the close relationship between family and job. [Wage-Earning Women] offers a compelling description of carefully regulated lives, seeking joy in small doses and then withdrawing to re-create a new cycle of family life."--Journal of American History"Tentler achieves a remarkable understanding of the working woman...Much of the effectiveness of this book's argument lies in the skill with which the author moves from the workplace to the home in locating the mutual reinforcing influences of each."--Labor History
