Sequel to the bestselling The Summer of the Fancy Man

Johnny Puvis, loved by three women—Cleopatra Dolton, Miriam Josceleyne and Emma Farr—has gone to jail for four years convicted of killing Cleopatra's brutish husband. Four years on, in 1906, Emma gains a house and a fortune, but cannot forget her poverty-stricken background. She calls her late husband's daughter Miriam back from where she fled to escape a broken love affair. Although still mourning her lover, an interest for Miriam develops when the suffragettes arrive in town. Women are the property of their menfolk—and change is needed. Cleopatra, originally from the slums of Silver Street, now a wealthy widow, flirts with the attentions of her employee Ozzie Clarke. Romance, tragedy and intrigue run through this story of sharply-drawn characters set in the harsh world beneath the surface complacence of Edwardian England.