Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
I want to read the book!
All characters reduced
The Gallows Bird - cover

The Gallows Bird

Barbara Sumner

Publisher: Pantera Press

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

A story of enduring love and friendship, and bold wild women who refuse the dictates of their times.
London 1833: The cast-out child of an aristocratic mother, Hannah 'Birdie' Bird is a laundry maid with a hidden past and a suspicion that the wealthy family she serves is hers.
Longing for beauty and liberation, Birdie risks everything to change her circumstances. She falls into love and crime, committing an audacious heist. When she is betrayed, she finds herself swept into a wave of female convicts, transported to the ends of her known world.
The journey to the early Australian settlement drives the women to deepest despair. Birdie finds wonder in even this darkest hour, and forms deep bonds with her fellow prisoners. But greater than even the trials onboard is the fear of what awaits them in Sydney Cove.
What chance does Birdie have of beating the odds? Can she fight her way to freedom?
Drawn from the rarely celebrated true stories of female convicts, this striking debut vividly evokes a far-off time.
Available since: 04/30/2024.
Print length: 360 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Ravage & Son - cover

    Ravage & Son

    Jerome Charyn

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    A master storyteller's novel of crime, corruption, and antisemitism in early twentieth-century Manhattan 
 
 
 
Ravage & Son reflects the lost world of Manhattan's Lower East Side—the cradle of Jewish immigration during the first years of the twentieth century—in a dark mirror. 
 
 
 
Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, serves as the conscience of the Jewish ghetto teeming with rogue cops and swindlers. He rescues Ben Ravage, an orphan, from a trade school and sends him off to Harvard to earn a law degree. But upon his return, Ben rejects the chance to escape his gritty origins and instead becomes a detective for the Kehilla, a quixotic gang backed by wealthy uptown patrons to help the police rid the Lower East Side of criminals. Charged with rooting out the Jewish "Mr. Hyde," a half-mad villain who attacks the prostitutes of Allen Street, Ben discovers that his fate is irrevocably tied to that of this violent, sinister man. 
 
 
 
A lurid tale of revenge, this wildly evocative, suspenseful noir is vintage Jerome Charyn.
    Show book
  • The Finer Things - cover

    The Finer Things

    Brenda Joyce

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    “Readers who relish a sophisticated, stylish read brimming with elegant prose will find this Cinderella story a la My Fair Lady to their taste.” —RT Book Reviews (Top Pick) 
 
The pretender 
 
An orphan from London’s East End, a fugitive from the poorhouse, Violet Cooper was tired of sleeping on stoops and being hungry and cold. But she dared to enter a world forbidden to her and her kind. Even marriage to a gentle elderly knight and the title Lady Goodwin could not open closed doors, stop the cold stares, or hush the shadowy rumors of murder . . .  
 
The aristocrat 
 
He was a man of the world. The rules of Victorian society did not interest him, nor could a gauche pretender with a Cockney accent possibly turn his head. Yet Theodore Blake, second son of the Earl of Harding, was immediately compelled by Violet—and soon found himself defending the investigation. But wedding vows were the only way to save her from a certain hanging . . .  
 
The finer things 
 
Two people from different worlds brought together by passion, bound together by whispered accusations, and torn apart by scandal and misfortune. The world claimed they should never love each other. Their hearts claimed otherwise. 
 
“Likable characters and an intriguing murder mystery.” —Publishers Weekly
    Show book
  • Timber and Dreams - 2nd Edition - cover

    Timber and Dreams - 2nd Edition

    Daniel Afflerbach

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    A Historical fiction novel based in Seattle, Washington in 1923 
A story of youthful idealism and a political pursuit against the Timber Industry. A young Irishman, Thomas Kelly, is on a quest to reign in destructive logging practices and begins a political battle which a Timber Baron is determined to stop. He tries to thwart Thomas’s efforts using hired muscle. When Thomas falls in love and discovers the Timber Baron has a dark and sinister personal life which may destroy the family of his new love, he and a few friends decide to take matters into their own hands. The political battle turns personal and becomes deadly when two families are put in the crosshairs of the Timber Baron’s fury
    Show book
  • The Stalking Death - cover

    The Stalking Death

    William W. Johnstone, J.A....

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Descended from Scottish Highlanders and blood kin to Falcon and Jamie Ian, Duff MacCallister forged a bold new life on the American frontier. But he will always stay true to his clan's fighting spirit—when it comes to justice . . . 
 
 
 
There's something rotten in Wyoming, and it's not just the smell of cow pies—the first whiff is coming off the Laramie County Cattlemen. Right off the bat, Duff notices something odd: no small-time ranchers allowed. It's big-leaguers only. And none are bigger than Brad Houser, owner of the sprawling Twin Peaks ranch. He's up in arms over the small-timers claiming the unbranded mavericks who escape their herds. Which is perfectly legal. No brand, free cow. 
 
  
  
Houser has a plan to stop these former cowboys from taking their runaways. For $1000, Houser will make the small ranchers go away—six feet under. That makes Duff MacCallister madder than a wet hen . . . and his guns will do the screaming.
    Show book
  • Winter Orphan The (The Children of the Workhouse Book 3) - cover

    Winter Orphan The (The Children...

    Cathy Sharp

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    A heartbreaking story of one child’s courage, from the bestselling author of The Orphan’s of Halfpenny Street. 
Ella has never known love. Left as a baby outside the workhouse, Ella has only ever been treated with unkindness; especially from the hateful guardians of the workhouse, who hold the fate of the inmates in their cruel hands. 
When she is sold as a scullery maid to a new home, Ella hopes for a better life. But her hopes are dashed as she struggles to do all the work heaped on her thin shoulders by her brutish master. 
Daring to escape her harsh treatment, it isn’t long before she is caught and once again finds herself at the mercy of an uncaring world. Can Ella resist giving in to despair and somehow to find the strength to carry on alone… 
Ella's journey, set against the backdrop of the city, is a compelling piece of fiction that explores the depths of human resilience. Her story is a saga that weaves together themes of friendship and family, painting a picture of hope amidst despair. 
For fans of Rosie Goodwin (Dancing Till Midnight), Mary Wood (The Guernsey Girls Find Peace), Katie Flynn (The Winter Runaway), Anna Jacobs (An Independent Woman), and Rita Bradshaw (Saffron Skies and New Beginnings).
    Show book
  • Peace In My Heart - cover

    Peace In My Heart

    Freda Lightfoot

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Sunday Times bestselling author Freda Lightfoot is back with a heartwarming story of life after the war. 
She must keep her family together…  
The war is over and Evie Talbert eagerly awaits the return of her three children from their evacuated homes. But her carefree daughters and son are barely recognisable – their education has been disrupted, the siblings split up, and the effect on them has been life-changing. Her son has developed serious behavioural problems and with her daughters, there’s jealousy and a nervous disorder that cannot be explained… 
Evie’s husband also has problems. Having returned from being in action, he suffers nightmares and fits of rage. He’s no longer the gentle, quiet man Evie married. 
Peace may finally be here, but Evie’s family is in shreds. Now she must rebuild a loving home to achieve the happiness she’s always dreamed of… 
In the historical town, Evie must navigate the rural challenges of post-war life, striving to mend the fractures within her family. The small town sagas that unfold are a testament to her resilience and the unyielding hope for a peaceful future. 
For fans of Rosie Goodwin (The Winter Promise), Libby Ashworth (The Cotton Spinner), Katie Flynn (First Love, Last Love), Vicki Beeby (The Ops Room Girls), and Margaret Thornton (Cast the First Stone).
    Show book