Infants of the Brush with Author A. M. Watson

Teacher, attorney, and author Amy M. Watson, discusses her debut novel Infants of the Brush.  Based on a 1700s court case, Armory v. Delamirie, this historical novel is in the vein of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Infants of the Brush is set in a time when London society ignored the ills of child labor. Unlike the gleeful chimney sweeps portrayed in Mary Poppins, climbing boys were forced up burning flues to dislodge harmful soot and coal ash.

Egan Whitcombe is just six years old when he is sold to Master Armory for a few coins that his family desperately needs. As one of Master Armory’s eight broomers, Egan quickly learns that his life depends on absolute obedience and the coins he earns, as he struggles to save five guineas, the cost of a broomer’s independence.