Sheffield Sagas

Determined not to waste his life toiling for his cruel brother, Silas arrives in town to seek his fortune. Harriet has reconciled herself to a life of domestic service for her austere uncle. And John Gunson, Chief Engineer at the Sheffield Waterworks Company, has just completed his crowning glory – the Dale Dyke dam. But one stormy night, the unthinkable happens. The dam bursts. Fatefully brought together, Silas and Harriet must now contend with their families as new love blooms. Meanwhile, Gunson faces not only an angry community but also a court of inquest looking for a scapegoat.

Sheffield, 1867. It's the height of a long-running and violent campaign known as the Outrages, where murderous acts are carried out on behalf of a rogue union leader. Louisa Leigh, a former maid-of-all-work, is trapped into prostitution and desperate for money to escape. She befriends Ginny Hinchcliffe, a young widow who will do whatever it takes to break free from a life of servitude to her in-laws. The two women become entangled with Joe Crookes, henchman to the man responsible for the Outrages.

Still grieving the death of her watchman husband in a terrorist attack during the Outrages, factory worker Rose is struggling to make ends meet when she encounters middle-class Annie, a newspaperman's wife who devotes her time to lobbying for better working conditions. Rose is desperate to avoid making waves with three mouths to feed. But she can't sit back and watch women and young girls continue to work in dangerous conditions, including her desperately sick lodger.