SynopsisHe claimed to be a man of God. But he did the devil's work. Thomas Thorpe hides his carnal desires under the mask of a pious lay preacher. When Ann Spencer rejects his advances, he evicts her from her home, claiming she is living in sin with a young man not her blood relative. But Alec is a ward, not a lover. And Ann has made a promise to her dead father that she will protect the Russian boy with her life. Taken in by kind-hearted Leah Marshall, Ann and Alec repay her by working in the dairy. The two young people become substitutes for the children Leah has lost. But Thomas Thorpe will not leave them in peace. Playing on the paranoia engendered by the Great War, he sows seeds of doubt among the good people of Wednesbury about the foreigner in their midst. Once Ann becomes an outcast, he will be able to claim her unwilling body for his evil purposes.

Helpless, Saran Chandler stands by as her mother and younger sister are sold by the vile Enoch Jacobs and herself narrowly escapes the same fate. When Enoch drowns, Saran swears that she will not rest until she has secured her family's release, but - penniless and friendless - barely knows where to start. Saran's courage and virtue bring their own rewards: when she benefits from an act of kindness, she uses the gift to become a nailmaster in Wednesbury, a dark and grimy place, in thrall to the vicious Zadok Minch, whose godfearing exterior masks perverse tastes. Zadok Minch, the man who had once bought Saran's mother and sister to satisfy his evil lusts . . .

SynopsisSet amid the privations and dangers of World War II, and rich in the detail of that period, Meg Hutchinson's new novel marks an intriguing departure for this popular writer.'You be a cheat and a liar Katy Hawley, no wonder your folks d'aint want you! Well we don't want you neither, do we girls?'It was only a playground spat but the cruel words burned like acid into Katrin Hawley's brain. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold and Katrin waited until she could hit her persecutors where it hurt. However, in her pursuit of vengeance, Katrin takes a fatal step too far. Meg Hutchinson's new novel chronicles the ruthlessly destructive quest of one damaged woman at a time when the onslaught of German bombs was daily robbing families of their loved ones. Just as the stalwart men and women of the Black Country were pulling together for victory, one obsessive woman sought only to satisfy her own malignant, vindictive craving for retribution.