Description

Nobody knows yet that she is a murderer…

Abandoned at the gates of a London park one winter’s night in 1850, baby Lily Mortimer is saved by a young police constable and taken to the London Foundling Hospital. Lily is fostered by an affectionate farming family in rural Suffolk, enjoying a brief childhood idyll before she is returned to the Hospital, where she is punished for her rebellious spirit. Released into the harsh world of Victorian London, Lily becomes a favoured employee at Belle Prettywood’s Wig Emporium, but all the while she is hiding a dreadful secret…

Across the years, policeman Sam Trench keeps watch over the young woman he once saved. When Sam meets Lily again, there is an instant attraction between them and Lily is convinced that Sam holds the key to her happiness – but might he also be the one to uncover her crime and so condemn her to death?

*ONE OF THE TIMES’ BOOKS OF THE YEAR*

Praise for Rose Tremain:

‘One of my favourite writers’ Nina Stibbe

‘Tremain is one of the best novelists writing today’ Sara Collins

‘Pulsatingly alive . . . no one can break your heart quite like this’ Neel Mukherjee

Readers love LILY

‘A stunning story of love, betrayal and true grit’ Susan H.

‘Lily is vivid and alive… historical fiction at its best’ Sheila R.

‘One of the most breathtakingly captivating and exquisitely spun pieces of storytelling I’ve read in a long time’ Caroline K.

Publisher Review

No writer can inhabit the skin of a historical period and bring it so pulsatingly alive as Rose Tremain. No one can break your heart quite like this. In this compassionate, generous, soaringly beautiful book, Tremain is at the top of her game. Read and be transported -- Neel Mukherjee It's more than gratifying to open [Tremain's] new novel, Lily, and immediately see that she is still writing at full throttle... This is the literary equivalent of all your favourite Christmas telly programmes rolled into one... Lily's story is a winter's tale: a cosy pageturner that will whisk you away from the 21st century while engaging and sharpening your mind. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times * Lily, in addition to its pellucid prose, is shamelessly gripping -- Jake Kerridge * Daily Telegraph * Another memorable and engrossing read from Tremain, which brings Victorian London, and especially courageous Lily, to life on the page -- Joanne Finney * Good Housekeeping * Lily is an ingenious blend of historical novel, moral fable and fairy story. Tremain, a pre-eminent historical novelist, vividly evokes the disparate social worlds of Victorian London... Lily is a tale not just of revenge but of redemption, which carries an intense emotional charge. Tremain again displays her supreme ability to create characters who are at once totally true to the period and instantly identifiable to the modern reader * Financial Times * Lily is the perfect heroine, courageous and bold -- Nina Pottell * Prima * Full of evocative detail and memorable characters -- Zoe West * Woman & Home *