Shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her doting aunt in London. H’s life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin robs her of her innocence, and the plague takes away the city and the people she loves. H is cast out – friendless, pregnant and destitute – into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine.

Forced to fend for herself, she is determined to gain back the life she lost. H will face a villain out for revenge, find love in the most unexpected places, and overcome a betrayal that she never could have foreseen. Weathering it all, can H charm, or scheme, her way to the life of freedom and independence that she longs for?

'Full of terrific historical detail... has that sparky confidence and unputdownable quality.'

Alison Pearson, judge for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 'This book is well written and the narrator, in whichever guise, is engaging'

Historical Novel Society