A Daughter’s Destiny

Rosie Goodwin 

ADD a welcome sparkle to the dying days of winter as Rosie Goodwin, one of Britain’s best-loved saga queens, conjures up more storytelling magic for her Precious Stones series.

The star of each standalone story in this glittering collection is named after a gemstone and follows on from Goodwin’s enchanting Days of the Week series which won the hearts of her army of readers and a fistful of accolades.

A former social worker and foster mother, Goodwin (pictured below) has penned well over thirty beautiful, heartwarming novels, exploring life and love in days gone by, and selling a million copies. She was also awarded the rights to follow three of the late, great Tyneside writer Catherine Cookson’s trilogies with her own sequels. 

And now, A Daughter’s Destiny – a gritty, drama-packed tale featuring the struggles and hardships of two sisters to stay afloat after their privileged life is snatched away – delivers the same winning blend of romance, intrigue, fascinating characters, and richly detailed, authentic and atmospheric settings.

Our new gemstone star is Emerald Winter who has lived a privileged life with her parents and her younger sister Abigail in the stately Astley House in Warwickshire. But all that suddenly changes in 1875 when her father disappears, leaving the family in enormous debt.

Click HERE for Lancashire Post review
 

The sisters and their mother Dorcas are forced to throw themselves on the mercy of Emerald’s cold and uncaring uncle Bernard who begrudgingly allows them on his farm. Desperate to find work, Emerald must leave her family and travel to London to become the companion of a distant aunt she has never met.

Meanwhile, rebellious Abigail is unwilling to lower herself to menial farm chores and instead runs away to London, finding work as a hostess in a Soho club where she soon attracts trouble. Torn

apart by destiny, the sisters must learn to survive against the odds in an unforgiving city. Will Emerald ever be able to find happiness and reunite her family again?

Unsurprisingly, Goodwin is one of the top 50 most borrowed authors from UK libraries and here she packs in all those recognisable people, events and dramas – births and deaths, loves and losses, good people and bad people – that have made her novels so beloved by readers over the decades. Emerald and her sister Abigail’s battle to survive after their father’s disappearance proves to be a gripping emotional rollercoaster with plot twists aplenty and a story that takes us to the real-life rural village of Astley in the heart of north Warwickshire.

Full of Goodwin’s wisdom, warmth and wonderful storytelling, and with the author’s ingredients and tips for a traditional Victorian picnic hamper to tickle the taste buds, this is a tale to cuddle up with by the fireside and lose yourself in the history, the heartaches and the romance.
(Zaffre, hardback, £12.99)