In the darkest corners of Victorian London, children are currency.
Nell O'Malley learned that truth at twelve years old when she discovered the ledgers of the Blackfriars Workhouse. Names of children marked as dead were quietly being shipped across the Atlantic to wealthy buyers who needed obedient labour.
Refusing to surrender her brother to that fate earns Nell a place in the punishment sheds and the attention of a man who refuses to look away.
Arthur Penhaligon once believed faith could fix the world. Blackfriars taught him otherwise. When he discovers the scale of the trafficking operation, he chooses a path that will destroy his career and possibly his life.
Together they orchestrate an impossible escape, smuggling dozens of orphaned children out of London and onto a ship bound for America.
But freedom proves temporary.
A powerful industrialist claims the children as legally purchased property and demands their return. With the law stacked against them and enemies in both countries, Arthur and Nell gamble everything on one final weapon.
The truth.
What follows is a courtroom battle that will expose corruption on two continents and decide whether thirty forgotten children belong to a factory floor or a future of their own making.
Genre: Sagas
Nell O'Malley learned that truth at twelve years old when she discovered the ledgers of the Blackfriars Workhouse. Names of children marked as dead were quietly being shipped across the Atlantic to wealthy buyers who needed obedient labour.
Refusing to surrender her brother to that fate earns Nell a place in the punishment sheds and the attention of a man who refuses to look away.
Arthur Penhaligon once believed faith could fix the world. Blackfriars taught him otherwise. When he discovers the scale of the trafficking operation, he chooses a path that will destroy his career and possibly his life.
Together they orchestrate an impossible escape, smuggling dozens of orphaned children out of London and onto a ship bound for America.
But freedom proves temporary.
A powerful industrialist claims the children as legally purchased property and demands their return. With the law stacked against them and enemies in both countries, Arthur and Nell gamble everything on one final weapon.
The truth.
What follows is a courtroom battle that will expose corruption on two continents and decide whether thirty forgotten children belong to a factory floor or a future of their own making.
Genre: Sagas
Used availability for Sybil Cook's The Orphan Smugglers