AS RECOMMENDED BY LYN ANDREWS


Liverpool, 1861.

Annie Shaw longs to be taken seriously. At 14, she's fed up with being babied by her big sister Delilah. It's true that Delilah has been the closest thing to a mother that Annie or any of her siblings have ever known, but she's secretive about the past and won't let her little sister out of her sight. When Annie's old friend Clara visits with tales of the good money that can be made at the cotton mill outside Ormskirk, she sees her chance at adventure and runs away.

The work is gruelling and Annie is shocked to witness children as young as eight working long days around dangerous machinery. But it seems that, as long as the cotton is produced on time, the mill owners turn a blind eye to the very real human toll to be paid. The children from the workhouse are treated especially poorly and Annie can't help but make it her responsibility to rescue them.

Soon Annie finds herself caring for three young orphans, now a makeshift mum herself. As hard times hit the mill and hundreds of jobs are lost, will Annie be able to keep her young charges warm, fed and safe? In order to face a turbulent future, Annie needs to first dig into the secrets buried in the past . . .