A gritty, compelling saga from the author of the bestselling Birmingham novel, Chocolate Girls.
Birmingham, 1942. After a childhood of suffering, Maryann Bartholomew has built a life of happiness and safety with her husband Joel and their children, working the canals on his narrowboat, the Esther Jane. But the back-breaking labour and constant childbearing take their toll on Maryann, and following the tragic loss of her old friend Nancy, and a further pregnancy, Maryann is forced to take desperate measures - with horrifying consequences.
When Joel suffers an accident, Maryann's security is threatened further and, to keep the boats working, she is forced to allow two wartime volunteers, Sylvia and Dot, into their lives. When she discovers that a mysterious caller keeps asking for her at Birmingham's Tyseley Wharf, the dark memories of her past begin to overwhelm her life. For it seems that someone is determined to find her . . .
