Written in 2002 by Mary Jane Auch, Ashes of Roses is a historical fiction novel that follows a young Irish immigrant named Rose Nolan as she comes to New York City with her family. Seeking a better life in America, Rose finds work at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The novel chronicles her experiences as an immigrant and a factory worker and examines the events up to the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. Through Rose’s eyes, Auch explores themes of immigration, labor rights, and the struggles of the working class in the early 20th century.

This study guide refers to the 2002 Henry Holt and Co, Kindle Edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain descriptions and scene of sexual assault and a graphic depiction of a large factory fire that involves multiple deaths.

Plot Summary

After two weeks at sea in the crowded steerage compartment of a ship, Margaret Rose Nolan arrives in New York City with her family, which includes Ma and Michael (Da), and her younger siblings, Maureen, Bridget, and baby Joseph. At Ellis Island, the family gets separated. Rose finds the inspections invasive and insulting, but the situation worsens when inspectors bar entry to the baby, Joseph, due to his infectious eye disease. Da returns to Ireland with the baby because he can more easily work to earn the money for passage back to America. As the rest of the family goes through the final immigration checks, they see people getting turned away because they don’t have a male relative waiting for them. Ma pretends that a stranger next to her is a relative so that they can board the ferry to go into the city; she believes, correctly, that Uncle Patrick is not waiting for them there as planned.

Some men try to grab the family’s trunk, but an Irish police officer scares them off and then gives the girls coins so they can take the train to Uncle Patrick’s address. Though Uncle Patrick is happy to see them, he is not prepared for their arrival because Da’s letter has not yet reached him. Patrick’s wife, Elsa, and their children, Trudy, Hildegarde, and Friedrich, are not happy to have these other Nolans staying with them. They worry that the feather bed the family brought is infected with vermin, and Trudy complains about how dirty they are. This upsets Rose because the children don’t realize how difficult it was for them to wash aboard the ship. Despite these frustrations, Rose revels in the indoor plumbing and hot water tap, and she feels excited about her new life in America.

Ma, however, never wanted to leave Ireland and is upset about being separated from her husband and youngest child. She is also aghast to learn that Patrick no longer attends Catholic mass; he goes to a Lutheran church instead. Rose and Maureen find it difficult to be quiet and polite in light of all the insults and coldness, so Rose decides to look for work, knowing that the sooner they can get a place of their own, the happier everyone will be.

At first, she tries to find work at a cobbler and a large department store, but she is turned down for being a poor, inexperienced “greenhorn.” Rose learns of a shop that makes paper flowers. Another girl there, Tessa, shows her how to do it but warns her not to let the boss touch her. When Rose gets home, Elsa is upset to learn that she is working in a sweatshop and tells Ma that it is a dangerous neighborhood, so Ma forbids Rose from working there. However, Rose tells her that the boss, Mr. Moscovitz, sometimes allows people to work at home, so she wants to go back to ask him if she, Ma, and Maureen can do that.

The next morning, Rose waits until Elsa leaves, then returns to the shop and convinces Mr. Moscovitz to let her work from home. He agrees, stating that he will pay her less and deduct every imperfect flower from her pay. The other workers are angry with Rose. Tessa explains that Rose is taking work away from the others, hastening the end of their jobs. Rose shows Ma and Maureen how to make the roses. When Elsa unexpectedly returns with her daughters and Trudy’s partner, a fight ensues, and Maureen tackles Hildegarde. Patrick realizes that the living situation is no longer sustainable, so he offers to help Ma pay for a place until Michael (Da) returns. However, Ma wants to return to Ireland, so Patrick buys them tickets for a ship leaving the next morning.

Rose does not see a future for herself in Ireland, just early marriage and babies. She argues with Ma to let her exchange her ticket and stay. When Ma relents, Maureen declares that she is staying, too. Despite promising Ma that they will go to Patrick’s, the girls find a room to rent in an apartment owned by Mr. Garoff and his daughter, Gussie. When they finish the roses, Rose brings them to Mr. Moscovitz, who tells her to return that night to get her money. When she returns, he assaults her. She runs, coatless, back to the apartment. Gussie, a union leader, tells her that there are laws about paying workers and that Rose needs to stand up for her rights. The next day, Rose confronts Moscovitz and gets her money and coat.

Gussie suggests that Rose work with her at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. To help Rose prepare, Gussie’s friend Jacob brings over a sewing machine for Rose to practice. Although the large factory, the elevators, and the machines are initially intimidating to Rose, she eventually settles into the work. She feels bad, though, that Gussie lost her position on the eighth floor when she took time off to help Rose face Moscovitz. Gussie also now works on Saturdays to make up for the pay cut, despite the fact that her father disapproves of her decision to work on Shabbes, the Jewish sabbath.

Rose befriends two other girls working there, Klein and Bellini. They invite her and Maureen to the nickelodeon to watch a movie. Rose is amazed by the moving pictures and feels that her American life is finally beginning. However, she believes Gussie is too serious and too deeply involved in union issues. Gussie tells her how important the union is in the fight to counteract the worker violations of which Triangle is guilty, but Rose brushes her off. One day, they see Maureen enter the factory with a subcontractor. That evening, when Rose confronts Maureen about working at the factory instead of going to school, the sisters fight. However, Rose eventually relents and allows Maureen to continue working there.

One Saturday, Rose plans to go to the nickelodeon with Maureen, Klein, and Bellini after work. Rose is also thrilled to receive her first wages. There is a crowd at the exit because a guard checks each woman’s purse for fabric scraps. Suddenly, someone sees flames, and a panic ensues when they all realize that the building is on fire. Rose nearly gets trampled, but Gussie slaps her out of her paralyzing fear and pulls her up onto the tables to run toward the exit. Gussie goes back to help an old woman, and a machinist guides Rose to the door, but it is locked.

Rose finds her friends by the windows. They soon see that the fire department’s ladders are not tall enough to reach them, and their nets are not strong enough to catch people falling from such height. Klein and Bellini either fall or jump out the window. Rose dumps a bucket of water on herself, pulls her skirts over her head, and runs through the fire to the elevators. She then leaps into the shaft, grabbing the cables and riding down on top of the elevator as girls plummet to their deaths around her. A fireman pulls her out at the bottom, and Rose is desperate to find Maureen. Outside, the road and sidewalks are filled with broken bodies and blood. She runs home, but nobody is there.

Rose returns to the scene and finds Maureen with Mr. Garoff. They accompany Mr. Garoff to the morgue where the bodies are laid out. They see the bodies of Klein and Bellini, and Maureen also identifies Gussie’s badly burned body by the steel plate of her shoe. At the apartment, members of Mr. Garoff’s synagogue console him and help him to plan Gussie’s funeral. Mr. Garoff intends to return to Russia. The next day, Rose and Maureen return to Triangle. They meet up with Jacob, who absolves Rose of her guilt about Gussie. At Rosie’s request, Jacob takes the girls over to see Gussie’s union hall, which is draped in black. Families of the victims come and go. Rose vows to find work in a union shop and keep Maureen in school, and she also resolves to keep speaking out about what happened at Triangle in order to honor the memories of Gussie, Klein, and Bellini.