Born the day of the great mining disaster at Jane Pit, Merry, Trent's start in life is marked with tragedy. She is brought up by her only surviving relative, her feisty grandmother Peggy, living in po
She’s bound by her duty to her family.Forced to leave school at the age of 14, young Rose Sharpe’s dreams of independence are ruined by her domineering father and constantly ailing mother. It falls to
Lottie is just three years old when her Mammy dies and she is sent to the workhouse. A childhood spent in poverty, skivvying for other people, leaves her with no prospects, no family... Yet Lottie is
A wealthy landlord’s son, and a coal miner’s daughter… Growing up in poverty, one of six siblings, Hannah Armstrong never thought she’d know anything other than her little mining town. But then she fa
After the birth of their son, Tom, Eliza naively hopes her husband Jack will put his gambling habit behind him and become more responsible. But after he loses their home and abandons her, Eliza has no
Life is a long, tough struggle for Meg Maddison…Growing up caring for her brothers after the death of their mother, it is only her indomitable spirit that gets her through the hard times. And when she
She's no more than an unpaid servantLorinda is only a child when tragedy deprives her of her true family and, sent to live with her aunt in her boarding house, she grows up desperately craving affecti