In the south-coast town of Mugsborough, a gang of painters and decorators scrape by on poor wages under bullying foremen and penny-pinching employers. Frank Owen, a skilled craftsman and convinced socialist, tries during dinner breaks to show his workmates why they stay poor, while they mostly defend the masters who exploit them.
Published only after its author’s death in 1911, it became a founding novel of British working-class literature. Download the free EPUB.