An abandoned baby leads a teenage girl to a brilliant career. In 1910 young teenager Jennifer Owen discovers an abandoned baby in a field, wrapped up with a penny for luck. Years later, with the help of society hostess Millicent Colston-Smart, she decides to track the child down. The trail (and that exact penny) leads to some startling discoveries for all concerned.
When this book was first published by St Martin's Press in New York and Piatkus in London, in 1996, it attracted the following notices:
● Some books keep you hooked from start to finish and this is one of them — [syndicated review]
● Some wonderful characters and witty dialogue. Jennifer's escapades are like a whirlpool that sucks you in and throws you out at the end, tired but exhilarated — Herald Express
● Bringing his characteristic ingenuousness to another well-executed historical romance, Macdonald ... delivers all the comforting sentimental pleasures that readers have grown to expect from him — Publishers Weekly
● Weaves a heart-wrenching story of love, acceptance, and tolerance — Romantic Times
● A superbly written novel — Midwest Book Review
● No one handles this sort of somber historical romance better than Macdonald, and this his latest outing shows no decline in his storytelling gifts. Unsurprising but effective — Kirkus
And, of Macdonald himself:
● He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith