We are absolutely delighted to share with WiO members the first chapter of A Family Affair, a new novel by Jane Stubbs.
What does a good man do when the law forbids him to marry the woman he loves?
This is the dilemma facing John Truesdale, the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, in Atherley, a grimy industrial town, in the north of England, where coal is mined, and cotton is spun.
His story of family, love, and longing is the background for the development of three spirited girls. They grow up close to Manchester, a thriving metropolis that is home to Emmeline Pankhurst.
The stern rule of Queen Victoria comes to an end. The Twentieth Century brings the flushing toilet, the telephone and the motor car into the lives of ordinary people. It also changes attitudes and creates opportunities for women, who begin to venture into fields previously closed to them.
The girls follow different roads until their paths cross.
Is it a dead end for one of them?
A Family Affair is available in paperback