Reviews

Published in 1915, Children of the Dead End was MacGill's autobiographical novel of his childhood in Ireland and later Scotland. The Rat Pit was a semisequel that told the story of protagonist Norah Ryan, who is forced into the harshest of lives. Both volumes reveal the poverty and oppression suffered by Irish immigrants in Britain and the near slave conditions in which they toiled as laborers. Both volumes were well received by critics and the public, who were appalled at the books' revelations. In addition to writing novels, MacGill worked as a librarian. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.