SHORTLISTED: NEW ANGLE PRIZE

Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of a woman - Mary Tyrell - is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service.

It is at the refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love. But the strength of this bond is put to the test when the girls are caught stealing from the refuge's laundry, and they are sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, setting them on separate paths that may never cross again.

Drawing on real events, The Low Road is a gripping, atmospheric tale that brings to life the forgotten voices of the past - convicts, servants, the rural poor - as well as a moving evocation of love that blossomed in the face of prejudice and ill-fortune.

About the Author
Katharine Quarmby has had a long career as an investigative journalist in the print and broadcast media. Her reporting on Rwanda (alongside Fergal Keane) won the One World Trust Award for Best News Film of 1999, and in 2011 she was shortlisted for the Paul Foot Award for her work on disability hate crime. Her non-fiction books include No Place to Call Home, about the lives of Travellers, and Scapegoat, based on her work on disability hate crime. She has also written several books for children. The Low Road is her first novel. She lives in London.

Reviews

'An absorbing, tender and brutal tale about love, betrayal, destitution and redemption. A heart-rending story, impeccably researched, packed with rich and realistic detail, and reminiscent of Charlotte Bronte and Sarah Waters'
Jane Harris, author of The Observations

'A darkly gripping picaresque tale of cruelty, courage and kindness as an orphaned girl survives poverty and injustice to seek love on the other side of the world'
Maggie Gee, author of The White Family

'Beautifully written, achingly moving historical fiction. Echoes of Charlotte Bronte and Emma Donoghue, but the essence is Katharine Quarmby's own unique gift of storytelling'
Essie Fox, author of The Fascination

'An engrossing and beautifully written novel. All sorts of horrors are to be found here, but also love and bravery and hope. A must for lovers of historical fiction'
Adele Geras, author of Dangerous Women

'Historically, most of the population were domestic servants, but they rarely left any record of their thoughts and experiences. In The Low Road, Quarmby brings servant girl Hannah convincingly to life. It's beautifully written, and Hannah seems entirely believable: not sentimental, often untrusting, but able to maintain her integrity'
E.J. Barnes, author of Mr Keynes' Revolution

'The haunting, beautifully told tale of a young woman's struggle against the unforgiving institutions of her day; a struggle not just for survival, but for the right to live with dignity and the right to love and be loved. Young Hannah Tyrell's story is as gripping as it's moving and The Low Road is a book that will stay with me for a long time'
Marika Cobbold, author of On Hampstead Heath

'Vibrant... Quarmby immerses the reader into the early nineteenth century with this page-turning tale of forbidden passion and a woman's ultimate triumph over adversity. A traditional saga, harking back to the glory days of Catherine Cookson, but with a very modern twist'
Michelle Styles, author of The Gladiator's Honour

'A convincing and fully immersive everyday world. The story goes at a rollocking pace, you are introduced and reintroduced to fully formed characters at every twist, and yet the focus is tight on Hannah and the world the reader experiences through her eyes. She grows up and matures as an increasingly less unreliable narrator completely believably'
Adam Macqueen, author of the Tommy Wildeblood series

'Ever evocative of time and place, The Low Road reads compellingly as an act of love and restitution'
Lydia Syson, author of A World Between Us

'At times a hard, and uncompromising read, nonetheless Quarmby has fashioned a beautiful story of forbidden love and loss, and the doggedness of the human spirit, that ultimately leads to redemption'
Julia Williams, author of It's a Wonderful Life

'A well-crafted and intensely dramatic novel, with characters you care about facing circumstances so dire a contemporary audience might strain to fully imagine them'
Sydney Morning Herald

'Soft, swelling storytelling... Beautiful writing transports you to every place with ease'
Australian Women's Weekly

'Impeccably researched, increasingly gripping'
Tom Shakespeare, The Friend

'A beautifully written novel. From the streets of London to the distant shores of Australia, readers are immersed in a world that is rich in detail and atmosphere'
Tasmanian Times

'A vibrant queering of convict history... The voices of these working-class queer women - categories nearly as invisible to history as they were to the period - come to life in Katharine Quarmby's hands'
Brisbane Times

'The reader is drawn into this beautiful story from the first page. A compelling and exquisitely crafted story, immaculately researched and written with such love'
The Australian Friend

'The descriptiveness of Hannah's thoughts, her environments, the conditions, the women she meets, and the controlling men that impact her life, all make this story so credible and riveting. You feel as if you are there with her... It is important that stories like Hannah's are preserved. A very thought-provoking read'
Beauty and Lace Book Club

'Moving...a resolute tale of survival'
Whispering Stories

'Because the story is based on fact, it becomes so much more real and disturbing. The quality, depth and detail of the research is clear'
Trip Fiction

'Against a backdrop of adversity, bright spots of kindness, love, and beauty shine through'
Friends Journal

'The novel is almost a "progress", but closer to Hogarth than Smollett or Cleland; the otherwise voiceless Hannah is granted her place in history at last.'
Historical Novel Society

Book Information
ISBN 9781785634628
Author Katharine Quarmby
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Lightning
Publisher Eye Books