A Secret Step

The novel ‘A Secret Step’ is set in the East End of London and has a feel and backdrop similar to the recent popular TV series ‘Ripper Street’ and ‘Call the Midwife’.

It encompasses the iconic Jack the Ripper times in 1888 and the East End Blitz of 1940. The fact that they are only 50 years apart means some lifetimes will have spanned both eras and the author has used this rarely considered link.

In both of these times, a child born and growing up in the East End of London only ever had two chances, live best you can or die from malnutrition, disease or violence.

This story is told by a character that lived through both times. The life our character was subjected to and what he witnessed around him had lasting effects on his character and his life.

From the horror of murder in Victorian times to the courageous antics of the Dead End kids during the Blitz, if you lived in London’s East End your first lesson in life was nobody made it on their own!

The Story
‘A Secret Step’ is a gripping and compelling story combining Jack the Ripper and the Blitz, the East End’s two most historical moments.

When Jack The Ripper stalked Whitechapel, Percy Miller was ten years old. Destined to be a mobster, He lived up to expectations. Billy, his grandson was ten when the Luftwaffe bombed the same streets. He took the Blitz in his stride. Could war offer him a way into respectable society?

In 1888 Percy Miller was ten years old, growing up in the slums of Whitechapel, in the East End of London. It was also the year that Jack the Ripper was wreaking havoc in the area.

Percy got caught up in the shocking events and ended up traumatised by the murders in a time before ‘trauma’ had been invented. He lived but could never tell the tale. It was no surprise to anyone that he ended up settling into the life of a career criminal.

It was another fifty years before the East End saw violence on a scale to eclipse the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 and once again Percy was right in the thick of it.

The Blitz of London was truly a terrifying thing to live through. Percy, against all the odds, was now a grandfather of one. Billy Miller, Percy’s grandson was ten years old when the Blitz began in September 1940.

To Billy the air raids were times of excitement and adventure. Without adult supervision Billy and his friends were free to roam as the bombs rained down. Their criminal instincts were not easy to shake off until Billy turned one daring rescue into a game.