Sparrows in the Scullery
In Sparrows in the Scullery, author Barbara Brooks Wallace transports readers back to 19th-century England. At this time, buyers could actually purchase orphans. After purchasing these helpless children, seemingly charitable homes clothed and fed them. However, in reality, these poor orphans toiled long hours in factories. The once privileged, recently orphaned Colley Trevelyan falls into this horrible trap.
The action takes off at a horse’s gallop! After a carriage accident kills his parents, scoundrels kidnap and sell Colley to the Broggin Home for Boys. There they strip him of his name and put him to work in a glass factory.
It’s a far cry from the servants and estate to which he’s accustomed, but Colley becomes close to the other boys, and learns about friendship, teamwork, and survival.
Wallace is deliberately Dickensian in her portrait of the home and the boys, yet the tale is full of hope. The boys find an unexpected savior, and readers will be borne along by the suspense to an exhilarating conclusion.
