A Rags to Riches novel.
The first book in a brand-new historical trilogy from Britain's best-loved saga author.
Coventry, 1904
When little orphan Annie finds herself liberated from the workhouse and taken to a smart home on Swan Lane, she thinks her fortunes might finally be turning around. While grateful to the Lilburn family, she soon realises they have problems of their own. Grieving the loss of their young daughter a number of years earlier, Maggie Lilburn adopted two children from the workhouse: a newborn baby, who she thought would be the answer to her family's woes, and Annie. But Annie soon discovers that rather than wanting to make her a part of the family along with the baby, Maggie plans to treat her as little more than a slave.
Life on Swan Lane is not all bad for Annie as she becomes close to her adopted brothers and Levi, Maggie's husband and the local rag-and-bone man, takes Annie under his wing. When Maggie finds herself unable to cope with the grief that haunts her, Annie steps in and helps to run the home and the family business, and starts to make a life for herself.
Through all of this the mystery surrounding Annie's birth is something that plagues her. Abandoned on the workhouse steps shortly after her birth, she desperately wants to know who her parents are, and she tries to piece together the clues. Will Annie ever find out where she came from and ultimately find where she belongs?
