Kelly J. Goshorn's The Undercover Heiress of Brockton, set in 1905 Massachusetts, evokes strength and love amidst tragic events

In 1905 Brockton, Massachusetts, Miss Henrietta Maxwell is a busy, eccentric young woman. The tall, bespectacled daughter of a self-made Bostonian businessman with Brockton roots, she attends upscale garden parties and writes a city society column while living in a Brockton boardinghouse and writing hard-hitting news for the Brockton Enterprise in disguise as “Henry Mason.”

Until now, Etta successfully kept her secret under wraps, but Leo Eriksson, a local fireman, unmasks her identity (literally) after she falls from a tree while investigating corruption and arson—knocking both her and Leo to the ground. Impressed by her intelligence and gumption, Leo agrees to stay quiet about Etta’s clandestine career.

They begin courting, hoping their affection will surmount class barriers, but a devastating industrial accident complicates things. The sensational headlines and cold-hard-facts approach to her reporting make Leo question if she lacks empathy. Also, Etta fends off a rival reporter desperate to out-scoop her.

Goshorn sets her inspirational romance against the backdrop of the Grover Shoe Factory disaster, which killed dozens after the four-story building collapsed and caught fire after a boiler explosion. She transforms this little-known historical incident into a riveting human drama, successfully animating a large cast and illustrating many moments—taken from primary source accounts—of heroic rescue and inescapable tragedy.

Etta and Leo are both caring people whose personalities complement each other, and their journey back to one another is realistically complex (if a bit overlong) as they rely on their Christian faith while working their way out of a big misunderstanding.

Boston and Brockton are 25 miles apart, so it’s unclear why their social circles overlap so much, or how Etta juggles her multiple roles while traveling back and forth. But in all, this is a well-crafted novel, with a hopeful bent, which underscores the importance of industrial safety regulations.

The Grover Shoe Factory, Brockton, before the 1905 explosion
(Public domain/Wikimedia Commons)

Barbour published The Undercover Heiress of Brockton in August, and I reviewed it for August's Historical Novels Review.  Having lived and worked in southeastern Massachusetts, just south of Brockton, for six and a half years, I was excited when I read about the setting.  The Brockton Enterprise had been one of my local newspapers.  I'd never come across mention of the Grover Shoe Factory tragedy before, and the novel certainly puts you right there. It's part of a six-book inspirational romance series called Enduring Hope, each focusing on a different set of historical events.