A gritty, heartwarming family saga for fans of Dilly Court, Sheila Newberry and Maggie Hope. All they have left is each other... Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come... ________________________________ Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series: 1. Workhouse Orphans 2. Workhouse Angel 3. Workhouse Nightingale 4. Workhouse Girl And don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses: 1. Frontline Nurses 2. Frontline Nurses On Duty 3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses

The heart-breaking and compelling new book set in a Victorian workhouse from the author of the The Orphans of Halfpenny Street

From a parish workhouse to the heart of the industrial revolution, from debtors' jail to Cambridge University and a prestigious London church, Robert Blincoe's political, personal and turbulent story illuminates the Dickensian age like never before. In 1792 as revolution, riot and sedition spread across Europe, Robert Blincoe was born in the calm of rural St Pancras parish. At four he was abandoned to a workhouse, never to see his family again. At seven, he was sent 200 miles north to work in one of the cotton mills of the dawning industrial age. He suffered years of unrelenting abuse, a life dictated by the inhuman rhythm of machines. Like Dickens' most famous character, Blincoe rebelled after years of servitude. He fought back against the mill owners, earning beatings but gaining self-respect. He joined the campaign to protect children, gave evidence to a Royal Commission into factory conditions and worked with extraordinary tenacity to keep his own children from the factories. His life was immortalised in one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, A Memoir of Robert Blincoe. Renowned popular historian John Waller tells the true story of a parish boy's progress with passion and in enthralling detail.

An “utterly brilliant” and deeply researched guide to the sights, smells, endless wonders, and profound changes of nineteenth century British history (Books Monthly, UK). Step into the past and experience the world of Victorian England, from clothing to cuisine, toilet arrangements to transport—and everything in between. A Visitor’s Guide to Victorian England is “a brilliant guided tour of Charles Dickens’s and other eminent Victorian Englishmen’s England, with insights into where and where not to go, what type of people you’re likely to meet, and what sights and sounds to watch out for . . . Utterly brilliant!” (Books Monthly, UK). Like going back in time, Higgs’s book shows armchair travelers how to find the best seat on an omnibus, fasten a corset, deal with unwanted insects and vermin, get in and out of a vehicle while wearing a crinoline, and avoid catching an infectious disease. Drawing on a wide range of sources, this book blends accurate historical details with compelling stories to bring alive the fascinating details of Victorian daily life. It is a must-read for seasoned social history fans, costume drama lovers, history students, and anyone with an interest in the nineteenth century.

When Cara Flowers' beloved grandmother dies she leaves her not only an enormous fortune but also a huge responsibility - to find their estranged family.

Can this orphan ever fulfil her nursing dreams...? After her mother's death, Dora is sent to live with her father and his other family. But the fact that Dora is mixed race and illegitimate see her treated as little more than a servant by her step-mother and half siblings. This doesn't stop the son of the house abusing his position and Dora finds herself on the streets and pregnant... Sent to the local workhouse, Dora's future looks bleak but she still dreams of a better life where she can help others as her late mother did with her herbal remedies. But can a girl from a workhouse ever achieve anything, let alone become one of Florence Nightingale's nurses? ________________________________ Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series: 1. Workhouse Orphans 2. Workhouse Angel 3. Workhouse Nightingale 4. Workhouse Girl And don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses: 1. Frontline Nurses 2. Frontline Nurses On Duty 3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses

This fascinating, fully illustrated volume is the definitive guide to every aspect of workhouse life. Compiled by Peter Higginbotham, one of Britain's foremost experts on the subject, it covers everything from the 1725 publication An Account of Several Workhouses to the South African Zulu admitted to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1880. With hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, plus priceless information for researchers including workhouse addresses, useful websites and archive repository details, maps, plans, original workhouse publications and an extensive bibliography, it will delight family historians and general readers alike.

Tears and tribulations, laughs and heartbreak, from an exciting new talent. Perfect for the fans of Jo Cox and Lyn Andrews. Cara Flowers' mother disappeared when she was too young to realise, and when her grandmother dies she leaves not only an enormous fortune, but also a huge responsibility – she wants Cara to find their estranged family. Her quest leads her to the doors of the looming Bilston workhouse where children are torn away from their families to toil for others. Shocked by the appalling conditions, Cara vows to find a way to shut down the building and rescue its residents. And then she discovers a link between the workhouse and her missing mother... Can Cara overcome her past and save these children from their fate? What people are saying about THE WORKHOUSE CHILDREN: 'A truly beautiful read, well done to the author for giving me such enjoyment' 'A very poignant, feel good novel' 'I laughed, cried and gasped, such a gripping story line' 'What an amazing story start to finish'

"In Imagined Orphans, Lydia Murdoch focuses on the discrepancy between the representation and the reality of children's experiences within welfare institutions - a discrepancy that she argues stems from conflicts over middle- and working-class notions of citizenship that arose in the 1870s and persisted until the First World War. Reformers' efforts to depict poor children as either orphaned or endangered by abusive or "no-good" parents fed upon the poor's increasing exclusion from the Victorian social body. Reformers used the public's growing distrust and pitiless attitude toward poor adults to increase charity and state aid to the children. With a critical eye to social issues of the period, Murdoch urges readers to reconsider the complex situations of families living in poverty."--BOOK JACKET.

In the 1950s Jennifer Worth was a district midwife in the Docklands of East London where the aftermath of the war meant many lived in shocking conditions. She worked with the Nursing Sisters of St John the Divine, nurses and midwives whose vocation was to work amongst the poorest of the poor. Despite the official closure of the workhouses in 1930, there was nowhere else for many inmates to go so they changed their names and carried on much as before. In 'Shadows of the Workhouse', Jennifer tells the stories of the men and women she met who began their lives in the workhouse.