Emma Hornby

Orphaned Jenny and her chimney sweep brother Noah eke out life in a cellar dwelling in the heart of the slums. Noah is the main breadwinner, but he is treated horribly by his master. Worried for her brother's safety and health, Jenny resolves to put her talent for singing to good use and begins trawling the low inns and taverns at night entertaining the punters.

When she catches the attention of a music hall manager and is offered a spot on the stage, it seems like a dream come true. But her newfound success can't include her brother. Will Jenny choose Noah over the bright lights of the theatre? And will he want her to?

Laura Cannock is on the run. Suspected of killing her bullying husband, his family are on a merciless prowl for revenge. Fleeing from her beloved home of Bolton to Manchester, Laura seeks refuge with her coal merchant uncle. But it soon becomes clear that a roof over her head comes with a price - of the type so unbearable she must escape once more.

Destitute and penniless, a stench-ridden housing court in the back streets of the factories is Laura's only hope of a dwelling - a place where both the filth and the kindness of neighbours overwhelm. Here people stick together through the odds, leading Laura to true friendship, and possibly love. But with the threat of her past still hanging over her, there's still one battle she must fight - and win - alone…

A family torn apart by war, held together by a secret . . .

Janie and her husband James have a strong, loving marriage. A move from an inner-city slum to a peaceful new estate outside of Bolton should have been a fresh start for them and their three children. But when war is declared and James announces he has signed up, Janie fears it's the beginning of the end.

Waving goodbye to their menfolk is a sacrifice that families are making all over the country and Janie does her best to make do, forging friendships in her new community. But when James comes home on leave a traumatised and desperate man, then goes AWOL, Janie's heart goes out to him.

Determined to keep him safe, she plans to hide him in their new house. But how long can they keep the secret, and what threats lie ahead if they're found out?

Phoebe Parsons is destitute, disgraced, and alone. After her mistress tragically dies, Phoebe is forced back onto the poverty-ridden streets of Manchester by her unforgiving new master. Desperately searching for work as a domestic maid, Phoebe soon discovers her reputation is in ruins. 

Fearing for her future and haunted by the harshness of her abandonment, Phoebe finds herself living with thieves and drunks in the smog and squalor - until she meets Victor Hayes. An officer removed from his duty and shamed by a cruel lie, Mr Hayes is a kind face among the uncertain threats of living in the alleyways. But Phoebe soon realises the sacrifices she must make to rebuild from the ground up... As their two worlds collide, can they make a new life from the wreckage? Or will the judgement of their peers make a pauper of Phoebe?

Mara longs for a peaceful life free of violence and poverty. But she has married into the O'Hara family, who have a reputation for drunkenness and quick tempers. Her eldest stepson Conrad is the worst of them all - a brute and a criminal who makes Mara's life a misery.

But when Conrad is accused of a crime he didn't commit, Mara is the only one who can prove his innocence. Perhaps this is her chance to finally free her family from his toxic influence . . .

Will Mara clear Conrad's name, or will she have the courage to break away from her stepson's villainy?

Minnie Maddox cares deeply for mothers and their babies - she makes a living by taking in unwanted children and finding them good adoptive homes - and is delighted for her neighbour when she finally becomes a mother after decades of trying. But when the baby dies of natural causes while under her roof, and knowing her neighbour will be devastated, Minnie swaps it with one of the infants in her care.

Now seventeen, Jewel Nightingale knows nothing of her true origins. But assaulted by her hateful cousin and making the dreadful discovery that she is pregnant, she faces a desperate dilemma. Fleeing her job as a domestic maid, she follows an advertisement to a house in Bolton's dark slums, where a woman promises to help her when the child is born. Little does Jewel know that there's a terrible price to pay...