The Horse Slaughterer's Daughter
It is 1871. Ramsgate's fashionable facade masks a darker world of depredation and dehumanising deeds. Nothing beautiful can thrive, not even a dream. And certainly not a dreamer.
When a teenage tryst backfires, Mary is sent to Sheerness shorn and shamed, looking for someone to make an honest woman of her. But can love be found in a beer shop in Blue Town? And how will she know it if she finds it?
The Horse Slaughterer's Daughter is a disturbing coming-of-age story set in dockyard alleyways among fallen women and bare-knuckle fighters. Nobody comes out smelling of roses.
Trigger warning: domestic violence, sexual assault
Meet the characters ...
George Burrus, a down-to-earth hammer-man. George knows how the world works but doesn't let that dampen his wry sense of humour or twist his moral compass.
James Carty, an upstanding shipwright's apprentice. James is intent on improving his chances in life and attends a working men's reading room. His manners are impeccable.. in public, at least.
John Walter, an enthusiastic beetle collector. John dedicates the hours he has spare from studying engineering to poring over catalogues of tropical insects. He dreams of becoming a great naturalist.
