Synopsis
When sixteen-year-old Will sees Frances in the rectory garden, he can’t get her out of his head. He takes his chances and knocks on the rectory door. Frances is lonely but when they’re together, none of their past troubles matter. Perhaps kissing a girl is one thing Will can be good at? Then disaster strikes and he moves impossibly far away.
Frances is determined to find Will again, but when she does, she realises they have different dreams. She’s driven by her social conscience, wanting to help those trapped in poverty. Will has other priorities—he wants to see the world from his railway engine—until it all goes wrong. Can their obvious love for each other survive their differences, as they bring up their family in harsh mid-nineteenth century North East England? Can they ever see things the same way?
As the story unfolds, Frances suspects something sinister going on at a girls’ reformatory. She becomes a detective, enlisting an unlikely bunch of people from her past, to help her investigate. When her life is in danger, is her husband able to put aside his prejudice to rescue her?
It’s a historical tale of courage, humanity and love