Josephine Cox- Cradle Of Thorns

(USED-Good Cond)- Hardback-

 'Your dad went to a lot of trouble so you could escape that woman's clutches. He set you free, Nell. Be grateful and show him that his child has grown into a capable woman That's what he wants. That's what you have to prove. You owe it to your dad, and you owe it to the child inside you.'

A new determination took hold of her. 'You owe it to yourself, too, Nell Reece!' she muttered. 'Now, get some sleep. There are things to do tomorrow.'

 Nell Reece has never known her mother, and her father's burden of guilt about his wife has kept him cowed for years, working as a common labourer on his sister's farm. But for all her aunt's spiteful attempts to break Nell's independent spirit, she has never succeeded. And now Nell, pregnant and alone, is forced to leave behind the men in her life, believing she might never be able to return.

 With little but the clothes she wears, and a tatty horse and cart, she travels the Bedfordshire countryside of 1890; a journey fraught with hazards for a vulnerable young woman. When she encounters a scruffy urchin called Kit, a ten-year- old orphan who's lived his whole life on the streets, she takes him under her wing. The pair become devoted friends, never knowing where their journey will take them, but each aware that the time will come when there must be a reckoning.

 'A born storyteller' Bedfordshire Times