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?
​
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 upright 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.
