National Network for Equitable Library Service

Lancashire, 1858. Annie Hallam has at last found complete happiness. She has three healthy children and adores her husband Frederick.

For Mattie Willit, caught in a thunderstorm running away from her bullying stepfather,rescue comes in the form of Jacob Kemble,a widowed farmer living with his two young children.

Ismay Deagan has one wish in the world - to leave Ireland and join her brother, Bram, in Australia. However, her father has other ideas and orders her to marry their vicious neighbour Rory Flynn.

Nellie, whose black skin and blonde hair have always made her feel like an outsider, feels more out of place than when she was younger. Her parents are working on a divorce.