Cirrus@Austlit

'1910 and Mattie Willitt is faced with an agonizing choice: marry the man her stepfather has chosen, or flee from Swindon. She and her sisters all choose to leave and go their own ways.

'But Mattie gets lost in a thunderstorm, collapsing from exhaustion, sure she’s about to die. Widower John Kemble goes to investigate his son’s news that there’s a dead body in the lane, and brings the stranger home. She’s young and attractive, suffering from pneumonia and with his wife dead, there’s only him to tend her.

'This leads to choices and opportunities Mattie could never have imagined. Will she have the courage to take the chance on a very different future?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In 1910 Nell (21) and her two sisters run away from their brutal and domineering father. Nell is pregnant to the man she loves, but her father doesn’t want his daughters to marry at all. He wants them to look after him in his old age. She’s terrified her father will beat Cliff mercilessly if he finds out, as he once did a fellow who was courting her half-sister Mattie (29).

'Cliff agrees reluctantly to leave his secure job as a railway upholsterer. He grudgingly allows her younger sister Renie (16) to come with them, but not Mattie, who might try to boss him around.

'After they leave, the sisters separate and Cliff finds a way for them to hide their tracks. He takes them up to Lancashire, where he finds a job as an upholsterer. But this is a disappointment and come-down after working for the railways. So is the fact that Nell has a baby daughter and then doesn’t get pregnant again.

'A year after they settle in Lancashire, Renie gets a job as chambermaid in a big hotel in London and won’t tell them where exactly she’s going, because she doesn’t want anyone fetching her back. Cliff is furious that with Renie gone and no longer paying rent, they’ve lost a way of saving money. He grows more and more grumpy, even shouting at his little daughter, till Nell is desperate.

'When tragedy strikes, Nell must build a new life for herself and her search leads her into danger. Will she find happiness again?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Sisters Mattie, Nell and Renie have all managed to escape from their oppressive and bullying father, but are now separated. They must draw upon their strength and courage to build new lives for themselves.

'Renie, the youngest sister, is living with the newly married Nell. Renie is happy in her waitressing job at the local Rathleigh hotel. But a shadow falls over her the day Mr Judson arrives as assistant manager. Feeling increasingly threatened by him and also eager to esape from Nell's unpleasant husband, Renie is delighted when she is offered a new job in London.

'Although she at first finds the city a huge and bewildering place, soon she is settling in and making friends. It seems as if her dreams have come true and she can have a future working in hotels.

'And yet, she still worries about her sister Nell and the way her husband Cliff treats her. When tragedy strikes Nell and her family, Renie is left in London, helpless to contact her sister.

'Her only comfort is her growing friendship with the injured Gil, towards whom she has felt an instant trust and affection. But can their relationship progress from friendship to something more. Then Judson returns into Nell's life and she finds herself in danger once again.

'Can Gil help her to escape from Judson's attentions? And will she ever find her sisters again?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.