Henry Wakefield, a weaver is working away at his hand loom in his cottage when a stranger arrives in the small Lancashire village. This man brings tidings of change. A mechanised mill has been built in Manchester, where weaving can be done faster and more efficiently, and whole families are needed to do the work for long hours. Should Henry accept this job? His trade is devastated by the cloth factory anyway.

A WEAVER'S WEB recreates these times of great social change as the Industrial Revolution means factory owners seize the opportunity to get rich. 1816, when the tale begins, is already well into the process. Spinning wool is done in factories rather than cottages, and people can wear shirts of imported cotton, not wool tunics. Luddites, people resistant to mechanisation, are burning factories powered by watermills - and being hung for the crime.

Henry's family are tempted. His wife and two eldest children could earn; the middle child could mind the two youngest. They could eat mutton every day, and dumplings with treacle, not just mashed potatoes from their field. Prices, rent and taxes keep rising. There isn't a couple of shillings for school each week, and the factory would provide some schooling. The cottage is falling apart, and Henry's cloth orders are drying up fast. The weaver's reluctance is built on more than pride, however. The big dirty city of Manchester is full of disease, crime and sin, according to the well-fed local vicar, who is bent on keeping his congregation.

Through Henry we learn that Manchester, England's second biggest city, does not have a representative in Parliament. Poor people cannot vote. His boy Albert takes his life into his own hands and runs off to Manchester, showing us the conditions in smaller workshops and the fate of orphans. I was totally drawn into the reality of this world, the struggle against worsening conditions - especially for Henry's wife, obliged to obey her husband and mind her children. Later, due to Henry's tenacity, we see another side of the story amid the city sprawl.

I've read many social history novels, and most are told from a woman's point of view, so I was extremely interested in the male viewpoint of THE WEAVER'S WEB. Author Chris Pearce who was born in Britain and now lives in Australia, counts family history among his interests. This social history tale is engrossing and revealing, a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about living conditions and laws during the Industrial Revolution.