fair used. The first novel in an epic trilogy set during the reign of Queen Victoria. It follows the fortunes of a young girl who goes from a small village in Tyneside, to a new life in America as the wife of a wealthy man - only to return and encounter the enmity of her former neighbours. The hardships that she endures working in the local coal mines strengthens her and forms the basis of the next instalment (Tilley Trotter Wed). 400pp