Showing results for "friendship" in Victorian

Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, headstrong Rosalind Carey has no choice but to take charge of her younger brothers and sister in Devonshire’s grand Rockwood Castle. But their once much-loved home is crumbling like the family that lives within it. Living hand to mouth and desperate to provide for the estate that depends on them, the Carey family are one debt away from ruin. Until the day comes when the dashing Piers Blanchard appears on their doorstep from Cornwall, claiming he is Rosalind’s distant cousin and that Rockwood Castle is his.

As snow falls outside Abbotsford vicarage on Christmas Eve, Rose Northwood finds a child lying destitute in the manger of the town's nativity display. Reminded of her younger brother, who died at Christmastime, she is determined to nurse the young boy back to health. But the child has lost his memory and can't recall where he came from…

In two run-down houses, at the side of a barren Black Country heath, live six children with no family but each other. Abandoned or orphaned, every day is a fight to find food and keep warm. But they are determined to stay free of the clutches of the workhouse and the horrors that would face them if they were ever torn apart. Dora Parsons lives with her mother, Mary, and her evil grandmother, Edith. Edith’s house may be comfortable and warm, and food is plentiful, but every day, Dora suffers at the hands of her spiteful gran.

Cecilia Bassingwaite belongs to a very prestigious circle of women: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. Yet this is no ordinary Victorian lady's society—as it's full of pirates, thieves and ne'er-do-wells. These women spend their days pickpocketing and blackmailing their way around the country all before it's time to sit down for tea. But when Cecilia meets Ned Lightbourne her world is set to change forever. Because he's a paid assassin and she's his next hit.

Christmas is coming to the village of Rockwood. But the happiest time of the year is marred by the news that Rosalind Blanchard’s husband, Piers, is close to death after a shipwreck at sea. The fate of her beloved family home, the crumbling Rockwood Castle, is once more in her hands. She must find the strength to keep her family together.

Dolly Blanchard dreams of a bigger life. She wants to make a mark on the world, not simply wait for a husband to come along. So when an impoverished actress offers her a lifeline, Dolly flees to London, determined to make it on the stage and prove to her family – and herself – that she can strike out alone.

A chance encounter brings Nancy Sunday to the streets of London, where she finds herself amongst a band of street urchins. Her heart may have been broken by love but it’s big enough to help those less fortunate than herself, and Nancy takes these unloved orphans in—but when one of them is accused of a serious crime, the neighbourhood turns against her. The colder the cruel grip of winter grows, the more mouths she finds herself having to feed. Can Nancy’s good heart and strength bring them all through?

Evelyn Seaton’s life is ruined when her father squanders her family’s fortune. Secretly answering an advertisement for an assistant at the dusty and forgotten Lamplighter’s Bookshop in York, Evelyn meets the enigmatic and prickly William Morton, an aspiring writer hiding secrets of his own. But when her predicament is intensified by the spiteful Lady Violet, who is determined to twist the knife on Evelyn’s misfortune, she has nowhere to turn. Evelyn and William are too scared to trust each other — can they turn the page on their story and find the courage to write the next chapter?

When Annie and her brother Cory are orphaned Hettie's mother takes them in. Hettie and Annie sell watercress on the streets of Victorian London to make a living. Annie's dissatisfaction grows and her reckless ambition takes her on a separate path. After she disappears in mysterious circumstances, Hettie sets out to find her. While searching for Annie, in the darkest and most dangerous part of London, she uncovers the corruption and depravity of Victorian society. Secrets are revealed that put both their lives put in danger. Can Hettie find her friend before it's too late?

Sophia Morgan and Elsie Carter share a unique friendship that defies the rigid social classes of Victorian London. Sophia is a lady; Elsie, a maid; but they’re bound together by a hardship that overcomes all obstacles. Their two children, Quincy and Ada, are raised in the Morgan house together, and their friendship grows steadily into something more. Simon Morgan, Sophia’s husband, is cruel and heartless. When a tragic death renders Simon completely unreasonable, little Ada’s world is torn apart.

Manchester industrialist William Rose was a poor lad who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, but in order to achieve his greatest ambitions he must become the epitome of Victorian respectability: a family man. But the only woman who's caught his eye is Octavia Marshall, one of the notorious ladies of Carson Street. Though once born to great wealth and privilege, she's hardly respectable, but she's determined to forge a new life as an entirely proper businesswoman.

When Evelyn Seaton and her mother are ejected by the bailiffs from their Yorkshire manor house, the blame lies squarely with Evelyn’s father, a gambler and chancer who has left them destitute. Seeking refuge with an elderly aunt in an unfashionable corner of York, their predicament is intensified by the spiteful Lady Violet. Realising that only an income will save them, Evelyn secretly answers an advertisement for a bookshop assistant at the dusty and shambling Lamplighter’s Bookshop. But she is not the only candidate …