From the bestselling author of The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl Wakefield 1870

On the banks of the River Calder, Meg Taylor struggles to care for her younger siblings and sick mother whilst her father is away working as a boatman on the canals. The slums where they live are rife with disease, and Meg longs for a different life, away from the grinding poverty, but she'll never leave her family.

But with the canals slowly dying as trade moves to the railways, and with Meg’s father stubbornly holding onto the past, Meg fears her family’s future is going to get even bleaker. If only there was a way she could save them….

Christian Henderson is tired of the greed of his wealthy family. He sees the poverty around him and wishes he could do more to help the proud working-class people he meets. People like Meg Taylor, whose courage he so admires.

From the moment he meets Meg, Christian is captivated – Meg might be poor, but she is proud and spirited!

Meg’s dreams of being with a man like Christian are fantasy. How can a lass from the waterfront be with a wealthy man such as he?

And worse, if she follows her heart to be with him, what will happen to the family she loves?

Praise for AnneMarie Brear:

'AnneMarie Brear writes gritty, compelling sagas that grip from the first page.' Fenella J Miller

'Poignant, powerful and searingly emotional, AnneMarie Brear stands shoulder to shoulder with the finest works by some of the genre’s greatest writers such as Catherine Cookson, Audrey Howard and Rosamunde Pilcher.'

'Mesmerising from beginning to end.' Lizzie Lane