Description
Christmas Eve, 1909. Eleven-year-old Lily Larkin is left to fend for herself in an East London workhouse after her dying mother is taken away. Her future looks bleak. Once she is separated from her twin brother, Davy, her childhood hopes seem to shatter. But Lily's fierce spirit—along with her beloved new friends—helps her to endure the miserable drudgery of life at South Grove Workhouse and its cruel supervisor, Miss Fox.
When a handsome, smartly dressed gentleman shows up at the workhouse claiming to be her cousin and offers her a job, Lily seizes her chance to escape. But her new job is far from perfect, and her reunion with her brother isn't what she thought it would be. Still, she relishes her freedom from the workhouse and, finding herself on the cusp of womanhood, is determined to embrace her new life—until a shocking secret from her past is uncovered. As everything she'd ever believed about herself is thrown into confusion, will Lily ever be able to rise above her past?
Endorsements
'Vividly rendered' — Historical Novel Society
'A fantastic cast of characters' — Goodreads
'Thoroughly absorbing' — Goodreads