Joseph and Helena are so poor their mother can not afford to feed them. They must go to live with their uncle in Reichenstein. They hope to get a job in the factory like other children do in their time, and build a better life for themselves. Little do they know what they must face now that they've left the mountains. When In Fair Silesia was first published in 1894, it was commended for its "distinctive German flavor" and as a "faithful representation of life as it exists among the people of the author's native land". Over a century later, this delightful reader stands as a window to life in the Industrial Revolution and the way Christian values permeated the culture enough to be expressed so strongly in the author's words.