Rachel

Orphaned at a young age, Rachel is left penniless and alone in the streets of turn-of-the-century Newcastle. Determined to follow her mother's advice, she must embrace her opportunity of an education so she can rise to the position of governess. When she lands a post with a good family she believes her struggle is over. Until she is blamed for a crime she hasn't committed. Moving to another job, she faces even greater adversity when she finds herself at the mercy of an unscrupulous employer. In spite of her indomitable spirit, Rachel is soon destitute and without propects. Then she learns that her eccentric Uncle has left her his house in Sunderland. But it comes with a heavy price: she can only inherit if she marries her childhood friend Martin. A man who has caused her embarrasment in adult years, and who she has vowed never to befriend.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.