Lindsey Hutchinson - Collection
General Fiction/Classics - ePub 11.8 MB
Fallen Women - Since the death of her parents when she was just a girl, orphan Ann Felton has had to struggle to survive. The grimy and gruelling Black Country is no place for a girl all alone and Ann is relieved when she gets works at The Bell public house, and is befriended by the local ladies of the night.
These bawdy, brave women take Ann under their wings, but with poverty gnawing hard at the people of Wednesbury life is a continual struggle. Ann can't bear to think how her friends make their money, but their friendship keeps her safe.
Victoria Beckett and Viscount Richard Wyndham have none of Ann's worries. Both grew up with silver spoons firmly in their mouths, and neither can understand Ann's struggles. But before long Ann will change both their lives forever, and in turn one of them might just save Ann from a fate worse than death...
The Lost Sisters - Orpha Buchanan and Peg Meriweather had a very different start in life. Orpha surrounded by wealth and riches, Peg dumped on a doorstep as a baby with nothing to her name but a scruffy blanket and tatty clothes. But one thing they had in common from their very first day, was a mother who despised them and wished them gone.
Hortense Buchanan wasn't made to be a mother. Bullied herself when she was a child, she continues the tradition with her own children, loving money and finery more than her own flesh and blood. When her daughter Orpha runs away from home, Hortense celebrates, never once worrying for her safety.
Circumstances bring Orpha and Peg together, and before long they're as close as family, making their way in the hustle and bustle of a booming Birmingham and the smoke-filled Black Country. But before long, Hortense realises that her daughter stands in the way of the one thing she really cares about, and the bitter legacy of the Buchanans looks set to destroy them all...
The Wives’ Revenge - Violet Clancy can take no more of her violent stepfather's attentions, so when he meets a tragic end she feels justice has been done. Looking around the bleak and pitiless Black Country town of Wednesbury, she realises that there are many other wrongs that she could help to put right.
Joining a coterie of women who call themselves The Wednesbury Wives, Violet and her friends soon set about winning justice for the abused and trying to make life a little easier for those for whom grinding poverty is every day.
But even in the hardest lives, some light must shine, and before long the wives find laughter and romance in their close-knit town. But will their friendships survive when some of their good deeds are brought into doubt, and some of their methods are called into question? And is justice always worth it, no matter what the price?
The Workhouse Children - When Cara Flowers’ beloved grandmother dies she leaves her, not only an enormous fortune, but also a huge responsibility— to find their estranged family.
Cara’s quest leads her to the doors of the imposing Bilston workhouse where families are torn apart with no hope of a better life.
Shocked by the appalling conditions, Cara vows to find a way to close the workhouse and rescue its residents. Fraught by countless hurdles her mission becomes personal when she is left asking why was she raised by her grandmother, and what has her missing mother got to do with the looming workhouse?
The Girl on the Doorstep - Left an orphan, five-year-old Rosie Harris is found and raised by Maria, a Romany gypsy. Life on the road is hard, but the little girl soon feels one of the tribe with the travellers.
As she grows older, Rosie realises she has 'second sight' and is able to read people's palms and see into their futures. Needing to make a living of her own, she befriends the canal folk, known as the 'cut-rats' traversing the Black Country waterways with their cargo, and so offers readings to anyone who can pay.
Pursued by Jake Harding, a Romany bandolier who wants her for his wife, Rosie instead finds herself falling in love with a married man. And despite growing ominous signs that her future may be cursed, Rosie can't quite break away from the dream of a happily ever after...
The Five Shilling Children - Adam and Polly Fitch face a bleak future after being sold for just five shillings to Miss Reed's orphanage by their bullying father. Missing their mother Minnie, and their three brothers still at home, they know they must stick together to survive.
But the orphanage does have one advantage – a merry band of children who soon form their own kind of family – and they're all determined to escape the clutches of the wicked Miss Reed.
Adam decides to survive he'll need to fight, so he sneaks out to have boxing lessons with the famous pugilist Billy Marshall. Lessons he needs sooner than he expects when his beloved sister Polly is sold to the rich Bellamy family, and Adam decides to go to her rescue.
Can Adam, Polly and their band of friends survive life with only each other to rely on, and will they ever have the happily ever after they so long for...
The Hat Girl From Silver Street - Life is tough for Ella Bancroft. After her father, Thomas, is wheelchair-bound by an accident at the tube works, the responsibility for keeping a roof over their head falls to Ella. Ella’s mother died when she was ten, and her sister Sally lives with her no-good, work-shy husband Eddy, so is no help at all. If she and her father are to keep the bailiffs from the door, then Ella must earn a living.
But Ella is resourceful as well as creative, and soon discovers she has a gift for millinery. Setting up shop in the front room of their two-up, two-down home in Silver Street, Walsall, Ella and Thomas work hard to establish a thriving business. Before long, the fashionable ladies of the Black Country are lining up to wear one of Ella’s beautiful creations, and finally Ella dares to hope for a life with love, friendship and family.
Meeting the man she longs to marry should be a turning point for Ella, but life’s twists and turns can be cruel. As the winter grows colder, events seem to conspire to test Ella’s spirit. And by the time spring is approaching, will the hat girl of Silver Street triumph, or will Ella have to admit defeat as all her dreams are tested.
A Winter Baby for Gin Barrel Lane - Dolly Perkins and Jack Larkin have grown up in the notorious gin palaces of Birmingham.
It’s a world of happiness and friendship, but also violence and poverty. Now that Dolly runs the Daydream Gin Palace on Gin Barrel Lane she can finally control her own destiny, but sometimes fate still plays its hand.
Keen to expand her empire, Dolly and Jack take on a new pub, but they are in for a shock when a foul smell in one of the bedrooms turns out to come from a body hidden in the wall.
As the police hunt for their suspect, rumours abound, spread by the local urchins – happy to be used as runners for a little bit of food and a coin or two.
But rumours can be dangerous, and as one of the worst winters on record covers everything in snow, Dolly and Jack have to fight for the lives they have made for themselves, and for the urchins that they have come to think of as family. Will the arrival of a new baby on Gin Barrel Lane bring the promise of new hope, or will the long-awaited thaw uncover new secrets and new tragedies…
The Children from Gin Barrel Lane- Ten-year-old Jack Larkin has seen more than his fair share of shocking sights, growing up in the notorious Crown Saloon.
Broken hearts and broken bones are just a fact of life in a Gin Palace, but for orphan Dolly, the Crown is her last hope.
After the death of her mother, Dolly ran away from her sleazy step father Arthur, only to find herself living on the streets. When Jack discovers her hiding in the back yard of The Crown, he persuades his mother Nellie Larkin, to take Dolly in.
But Dolly has a secret - a very valuable secret - and Arthur is determined to get his clutches on her at any cost. And when local hard-man Ezra Morton joins in the hunt, the Larkins may have to risk everything to keep Dolly safe…
Minnie's Orphans- The Fitch children are finally safe, after they and their friends were rescued from the grim orphanage Reed House by Minnie and Billy Marshall. Their children's home Marshall's is full of love and laughter, and a world away from their terrible ordeal of being sold to Una Reed for five shillings.
There are many more children who still need a home, especially in a world where the workhouse is the last option for desperate families, and so Minnie makes it her mission to build Marshall's into a refuge for all the waifs and strays.
But kind hearts can be taken advantage of, and before long, Marshall's in under attack. Can Minnie and Billy keep their family together and keep all the children safe, or will they be torn apart again?
The Runaway Children - In two rundown houses, at the side of a barren Black Country heath, live six children with no family but each other. Abandoned or orphaned, every day is a fight to find food and keep warm. But they are determined to stay free of the clutches of the workhouse and the horrors that would face them if they were ever torn apart.
Dora Parsons lives with her mother Mary and her evil grandmother Edith. Edith’s house may be comfortable and warm, and food is plentiful, but every day Dora suffers at the hands of her spiteful gran. Desperate to protect her child, Mary longs to run away but she has no money to keep them alive and nowhere else to call home.
When fate intervenes and Mary and Dora meet the children, events are set in train that will change all their lives forever. But will the friends find peace and comfort at last, or does the chill of the winter signal the most desperate ending of all…
The Hat Girl's Heartbreak - Will it be tears or triumph for the Hat Girl from Silver Street?
It’s been five years since Ella Bancroft lost the love of her life, Harper Fortescue, and despite her friends’ encouragement, she’s still not been able to move on. The one thing keeping Ella smiling is the success of her hat shop, Ivella. Her beautiful designs and fabulous creations are the first choice for the fashionable Edwardian ladies of Walsall, and her fame is spreading far and wide.
Darcie Newland won’t ever forgive Ella for stealing her fiancé and ruining her life, even though Harper was never really hers in his heart. After being exiled by her parents to Scotland after yet another scandal, Darcie is now back in Birmingham and set on revenge.
As her hat shop flourishes, and the possibility of a new love appears when she least expects it, Ella finally dares to hope for a happy future. But storm clouds are gathering over the Black Country, and life might have other plans for the hat girl from Silver Street.
The Ragged Orphan - When 12 year-old Jared Johnson’s little sister dies, just hours after his mother breathes her last after wasting away so her children could eat, he knows he is on own.
Desperate to avoid the workhouse, he does everything he can to survive the inhospitable streets of Birmingham. Jared is blessed with the gift of the gab and soon attracts the attention of the King of the Tatters, Toby McGuire. Recognising a kindred spirit, Toby soon has Jared out on a cart hustling for rags.
Jared loves driving his horse Bess, shouting ‘any old rags’ as loud as he can, and it’s not long before he’s thriving. But being successful can bring you enemies as well as friends. Toby knows that Jared is destined for bigger things – provided his big mouth doesn’t get him hurt first…
The Bad Penny - If you're born with nothing you have to make your own luck.
When Jared Johnson first meets Clarice Connaught he saves her from the hands of her father, who is brutally beating her in the street. Never one to walk past someone in distress, Jared doesn’t hesitate to help. But who is this girl and what is her story?
Jared Johnson started with nothing. At just twelve-years-old he was orphaned and homeless, but eight years later, Jared is a success. Running McGuire’s Rag & Bone Yard and surrounded by friends, all Jared needs now is to find the perfect girl to settle down with.
Nothing has come easy for Clarice but still she has dreams of a grander life and the finer things. And if her father isn’t willing to provide them then Clarice will do anything to find someone who is.
Jared and Clarice have one thing in common – they are survivors – and in Queen Victoria’s Birmingham you need your wits about you to keep the wolf from the door. But Clarice isn’t everything she seems, and like a bad penny that always shows up, she brings more trouble for Jared and his friends than they could ever have imagined…
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Added The Bad Penny
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