Kirjahaku

In 1450 Harry Somers accepts a challenging commission in Winchester and investigates distasteful allegations about a murder, leading him to make a choice which has far-reaching consequences for his future. Old enemies menace him, his prospects become entwined with the conflicting interests of rival noblemen and his personal happiness is threatened.

Harry Somers has seen his patron and employer, the Duke of Suffolk brutally murdered and his wife's mental state has been prejudiced by her experiences. Instead of having time to recuperate he is flung into the tumult of the popular uprising led by Jack Cade and meeting again men who in the past have proved to be his enemies. He tries to stay neutral in various conflicts but is forced to defend his personal interests and becomes caught in the fatal rivalry between Richard of York, aspiring claimant to the throne and King Henry's closest adviser, the Duke of Somerset. His friends come under attack from an embittered opponent and Harry is forced to act on their behalf. The conflicts are only resolved after violent and heart-rending events which bring the book to a climax.

Sheffield in the 1860's was a place of vitality and change, a male dominated culture where there was pride in workmanship but many lived in squalor. Violence, hypocrisy and abuse were present in society and in the domestic setting where most women had little independence. The book tells the stories of two very different young women who seek to shape their lives in this environment. They suffer from their mistakes but both re resilient, refusing victim-hood, until fearful disaster, partly natural and partly man-made, sweeps lives and certainties away.