Product Description

Wealthy mill owner, Edward Shawcross, had been a penniless young man until he married the daughter of the Fishwick family. The Fishwicks went to live abroad, leaving everything to their son-in-law. No-one knows why. But as a new generation begins to grow up, the past scandals begin to emerge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1529740 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 615 pages

From the Back Cover
The Shawcross family was a strange and unhappy one. Edward Shawcross absented himself as much as possible and kept a red-haired mistress in Tintern Avenue. Alice, his wife, sought solace in chocolate and continually carped at Connie, her beautiful daughter. And Connie and Gilbert, their children, formed an uneasy alliance in the face of their parents' antipathy.

Twenty years before, Edward Shawcross had been an impoverished millhand, born in a slum to feckless parents. Overnight his fortunes had changed. To everyone's surprise he had married the plain and awkward daughter of the wealthy Fishwick family. Almost at once the Fishwicks, owners of a lucrative mill and a grand house, went to live abroad leaving Edward in charge of all their business interests. No-one could understand why Edward had suddenly made this leap of fortune.

But as the new generation began to grow up, so the truth behind old scandals begin to emerge. Then, after many years, the Fishwicks returned and violence swiftly followed. Before Connie and Gilbert could throw off the legacies of the past and build their own lives, there were to be many shocking revelations.

About the Author
Ruth Hamilton
Ruth Hamilton is the bestselling author of A Whisper to the Living, With Love from Ma Maguire, Nest of Sorrows, Billy London's Girls, Spinning Jenny, The September Starlings, A Crooked Mile, Paradise Lane, The Bells of Scotland Road, The Dream Sellers, The Corner House, Miss Honoria West and Mulligan's Yard. She has become one of the most popular authors who recreate the lives and places of the north-west of England. Ruth Hamilton was born in Bolton and has spent most of her life in Lancashire. She now lives in Liverpool.

Customer Reviews

Easy to pick up & put down - fast flowing throughout
Being someone who does not usually find time to read books - I found the time for this one. It was passed on to me by my mother - we both found it extremely enjoyable. Not descriptive about surroundings (I do not enjoy paragraphs of description) - just enough description about the people. Plenty of fast moving action taking place. Definitely kept me interested throughout. So much so I have ordered her other books to read as I like the style.