Winter, 1904, and feisty twenty-one-year old Ellen has been summoned back from her new life in Hoboken, New Jersey, to the family farm on windswept Gower, in a last bid to prevent the impending death of her alcoholic father. On her return, she finds the family in disarray. Ailing William is gambling away large swathes of Thomas land; frustrated Eleanor is mourning the husband she once knew; and Ellen s younger twin brothers face difficult choices. Ellen, tasked with putting her family s lives in order, finds herself battling one impossible decision after another. Resourceful, passionate, and forthright, can she remain in Gower, where being female still brings with it so many limitations? Can she endure being so close to her lost love? Will she choose home and duty, or excitement and opportunity across the Atlantic? "A beautifully written novel, blessed with a deep and profound sense of place, and a vivid heroine to root for" - Alan Bilton "An evocative, powerful novel which conjures up a strong sense of place with the lightest of brushstrokes. A tightly-woven narrative that lingers long in the mind...." - Fflur Dafydd "Set in the back-breaking farms of Gower and against the backdrop of areligious revival which spread like gorse-fire, it tells the story of Ellen, an independent-minded woman with the gumption and resolve to make a new life for herself... In prose as clear as a sky after storms Jane Fraser conjures a placefully into being and then peoples it with a vivid cast of characters." - Jon Gower "an epic, intimate novel that reeled me in and kept me turning each page, hungry for the next chapter." - Euros Lyn: BAFTA, International Emmy and Hugo-winning TV and Film Director "Fraser explores themes of womanhood, expectation, power, and identity with an unflinching eye, expertly revealing the ideas of a society on the edge of both land and change... Her voice speaks so directly and honestly to her reader that it will continue to echo long after the last page has been read." - Rebecca F. John
