A powerful story about a woman's struggle to claim what is rightfully hers, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Val Wood. 1850: Beatrix Fawcett is just eighteen when her father tells her she is to marry a stranger. Hesitantly, but with little choice, she agrees to the match - in the hope of a good husband in Charles, and a happy new life together in rural Yorkshire.

As Beatrix sets about making their house a home, she falls in love with it and the surrounding countryside. But she does not fall in love with her husband... Charles has chosen her simply to meet the requirements of his inheritance and has little interest in his young wife. Soon, the only spark in Beatrix's lonely life is her beloved children. But when Charles threatens to take them away from her, Beatrix must find strength in desperate times. Can she fight against her circumstances and keep what is rightfully hers?