National Network for Equitable Library Service

August 1883. The future for Ling Southcott, a quarryman's daughter, seems to be already mapped. Marriage to her childhood sweetheart, Barney, a cluster of children, a life contained to the hamlet of Foggintor Quarry. For Ling, with her sharp, enquiring mind and love of books, it is an accepted, if unwelcome fate. But then the new Princetown Railway opens across Dartmoor, connecting her remote hamlet to the neighbouring town of Tavistock, and even Plymouth. Suddenly the world is at her fingertips. Then Ling is rescued from a fatal blow. Her rescuer is handsome young medical student Elliott Franfield. Elliott, man of education, is so different from her unambitious Barney. Almost against her will, Ling feels her eyes open to what life could have in store. Will Ling change her destiny? Or will she let opportunity slip through her fingers? Tania Crosse weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life.