Description

Two young women. One passionate love. Will their paths ever cross again?

Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of a woman – Mary Tyrell – is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is later sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service.

It is at the Refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love. But the strength of this bond is put to the test when the girls are caught stealing from the Refuge’s laundry, and they are sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, setting them on separate paths that may never cross again.

Drawing on real events, The Low Road is a gripping, atmospheric tale that brings to life the forgotten voices of the past – convicts, servants, the rural poor – as well as a moving evocation of love that blossomed in the face of prejudice and ill fortune.

Publisher Review

*'The Low Road is a tough read, paradoxically, because of the empathy with which Quarmby tells her story; tougher, too, because it is based on true events' Katherine Mezzacapa, Historical Novel Society 'A darkly gripping picaresque tale of cruelty, courage and kindness as an orphaned girl survives poverty and injustice to seek love on the other side of the world' Maggie Gee, author of The White Family 'Vibrant... Quarmby immerses the reader into the early nineteenth century with this page-turning tale of forbidden passion and a woman's ultimate triumph over adversity. A traditional saga, harking back to the glory days of Catherine Cookson, but with a very modern twist which is sure to appeal to today's reader. I look forward to reading more of her work' Michelle Styles, author of The Gladiator's Honour 'Quarmby spins an absorbing, tender and brutal tale that encompasses a London refuge for the destitute, rural Norfolk, and Van Diemen's Land in Australia. This is a novel about love, betrayal, destitution and redemption. A heart-rending story, impeccably researched, packed with rich and realistic detail, and reminiscent of the work of Charlotte Bronte and Sarah Waters' Jane Harris, author of The Observations 'Quarmby unites sympathetic examination of a fragmentary historical record with imaginative reconstruction to give a voice to a girl who endured the gravest injustice and misfortune over two centuries ago. Ever evocative of time and place. The Low Road reads compellingly as an act of love and restitution' Lydia Syson, author of A World Between Us