Very little is written about poor working people in the 17th century. This book is unique in re-creating the lives of a group of people living in west Lancashire at this time and the author has spent years researching the area and its inhabitants in this fascinating era. The true story of the life of weaver Richard Webster and his love for a girl considered unsuitable is set against the Jacobite plots and consequent Catholic persecutions of the time as his struggles with poverty and his forbidden faith are finally resolved by an unexpected stroke of fate.