The Judge's Daughter

Agnes Makepeace has always been courageous and strong-minded and on the surface, she couldn’t be more unlike the chilly, reserved Helen Spencer. Agnes knows there is a mystery to her own background and is determined to discover the truth about her past. She believes the key to unlock the secret is held with husband’s employer, Judge Zachary Spencer of Lambert House—a mean-spirited widower and solitary man. Judge Spencer has long neglected his daughter, Helen, and notices her even less when he takes a new wife. But he has underestimated both the extent of his daughter’s misery and her determination to enact her revenge. Helen’s new-found confidence causes her to behave in a way that will have a lasting and shocking impact on both families and, surprisingly, leads to a lifelong friendship with Agnes. Yet it is only when the broodingly silent house on Skirlaugh Rise ceases to hold its breath and deliver the answers that Agnes has been seeking that she can finally find the peace of mind she has always longed for.

Ruth Hamilton is the author of 25 novels, including The Bells of Scotland Road, A Liverpool Song, Mersey View, Mulligan's Yard, and That Liverpool Girl.