The Poacher’s Daughter

Margaret Dickinson

MUCH-LOVED author Margaret Dickinson – a writer who had her first novel published at the age of 25 and has since gone on to pen a raft of bestselling sagas – explores a forbidden love affair between two young people born on opposite sides of the tracks in a heartwarming new story set in the years before the First World War.

Dickinson (pictured below) is a born storyteller who knows how to immerse her readers in the past and a forgotten way of life, and in her thirtieth saga, she sweeps us away to the Lincolnshire Wolds in 1910 where we meet Rosie Waterhouse who lives with her father Sam, well known as the local poacher, in a cottage on the Thornsby estate.

The land is owned by William Ramsey, a harsh and heartless man who is determined that his only son, Byron, should marry well and produce an heir. Rosie is quick to learn the tricks of her father’s trade and it’s when she’s poaching fish from the estate’s stream that she meets Byron.

They continue to meet in secret over the coming months and, as their friendship blossoms, they recognise that, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they are destined to be together.

But when William learns of their bond, he stops at nothing to ensure that they never meet again. As the years pass and the threat of war becomes a reality, Sam is involved in a tragic incident that will affect both his and Rosie’s lives more than they could ever have imagined. Life will never be the same in Thornsby, but will Rosie find the happiness she yearns for?

Filled with romance, heartache and page-turning drama, The Poacher’s Daughter is written with saga queen Dickinson’s signature warmth and insight, and delivers the kind of rich period detail that brings the past to life so vividly. A delight for all saga fans!
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)