Minerva Lane is buzzing with gossip. Widow Lizzie Gallimore has married her handsome lodger Jack McShane. And Lizzie's daughter Ruby is delighted to have a father figure in her life, even though her affection for him upsters her childhood sweetheart, and her brother Joe.

Then a traumatic event reveals Jack in his true colours. Determined to save her family from corruption and humiliation, Ruby seeks independence. She suffers the harsh realities of a working life as she tries to protect her brother while denying herself the comfort from the one man who truly cares for her. Until, eventually, the truth emerges...

Minerva Lane is both a powerful love story and a vivid evocation of working-class life in the Black Country during the Victorian era, written by Judith Glover, author of The Stallion Man.