The Low Road

(Hardback)

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Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of a woman Mary Tyrell is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is later sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service. It is at the Refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love. But the strength of this bond is put to the test when the girls are caught stealing from the Refuge's laundry, and they are sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, setting them on separate paths that may never cross again. Drawing on real events, The Low Road is a gripping, atmospheric tale that brings to life the forgotten voices of the past convicts, servants, the rural poor as well as a moving evocation of love that blossomed in the face of prejudice and ill fortune. The markdown above produces the following HTML:

Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of a woman Mary Tyrell is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is later sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service.

It is at the Refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love. But the strength of this bond is put to the test when the girls are caught stealing from the Refuge's laundry, and they are sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, setting them on separate paths that may never cross again.

Drawing on real events, The Low Road is a gripping, atmospheric tale that brings to life the forgotten voices of the past convicts, servants, the rural poor as well as a moving evocation of love that blossomed in the face of prejudice and ill fortune.

1034 characters, including HTML tags This optional field is for your in-house, private version.OPEN A USER GUIDE IN A PANEL ON THE RIGHT The Low Road is set in rural England, London and Australia in the early nineteenth century. It is based on a true story I found whilst visiting my parents in the quiet Waveney Valley of a Norfolk woman, Mary Tyrell, who was staked through the heart after death in 1813. She had been questioned repeatedly about a suspected infanticide. An older daughter, known only by the initials A.T., had survived. I traced her to the Refuge for the Destitute in Hackney. She had met another destitute, Anne Simpkins, there and they forged a friendship that deepened into love. In December 1821 they stole laundry from the Refuge, but were caught, stood trial at the Old Bailey, and were sentenced to transportation. They went first to the Millbank Penitentiary, survived marsh fever and were transferred to the prison hulks before being pardoned in 1824. They then went on the town as prostitute. They both disappeared from the records - with just one last archive entry suggesting they were transported. The trail went cold so I decided to novelise their story but base it on a mosaic of the lives of men and women who were exiled in the largest forced migration in British history. This novel is about uncovering lost histories: the stories of poor women from rural areas, the stories of the imprisoned, the stories of convicts sent to penal colonies, the stories of people who often left no records as a result of illiteracy and hardship. It also contains an important strand of narrative that explores experiences left out of the history books: a same-sex romance that evolves into a marriage of sorts two centuries before this was legally possible. The Low Road is set in rural England, London and Australia in the early nineteenth century. It is based on a true story I found whilst visiting my parents in the quiet Waveney Valley of a Norfolk woman, Mary Tyrell, who was staked through the heart after death in 1813. She had been questioned repeatedly about a suspected infanticide. An older daughter, known only by the initials A.T., had survived. I traced her to the Refuge for the Destitute in Hackney. She had met another destitute, Anne Simpkins, there and they forged a friendship that deepened into love. In December 1821 they stole laundry from the Refuge, but were caught, stood trial at the Old Bailey, and were sentenced to transportation. They went first to the Millbank Penitentiary, survived marsh fever and were transferred to the prison hulks before being pardoned in 1824. They then went on the town as prostitute. They both disappeared from the records - with just one last archive entry suggesting they were transported. The trail went cold so I decided to novelise their story but base it on a mosaic of the lives of men and women who were exiled in the largest forced migration in British history. This novel is about uncovering lost histories: the stories of poor women from rural areas, the stories of the imprisoned, the stories of convicts sent to penal colonies, the stories of people who often left no records as a result of illiteracy and hardship. It also contains an important strand of narrative that explores experiences left out of the history books: a same-sex romance that evolves into a marriage of sorts two centuries before this was legally possible. The Low Road is set in rural England, London and Australia in the early nineteenth century. It is based on a true story I found whilst visiting my parents in the quiet Waveney Valley of a Norfolk woman, Mary Tyrell, who was staked through the heart after death in 1813. She had been questioned repeatedly about a suspected infanticide. An older daughter, known only by the initials A.T., had survived. I traced her to the Refuge for the Destitute in Hackney. She had met another destitute, Anne Simpkins, there and they forged a friendship that deepened into love. In December 1821 they stole laundry from the Refuge, but were caught, stood trial at the Old Bailey, and were sentenced to transportation. They went first to the Millbank Penitentiary, survived marsh fever and were transferred to the prison hulks before being pardoned in 1824. They then went on the town as prostitute. They both disappeared from the records - with just one last archive entry suggesting they were transported. The trail went cold so I decided to novelise their story but base it on a mosaic of the lives of men and women who were exiled in the largest forced migration in British history. This novel is about uncovering lost histories: the stories of poor women from rural areas, the stories of the imprisoned, the stories of convicts sent to penal colonies, the stories of people who often left no records as a result of illiteracy and hardship. It also contains an important strand of narrative that explores experiences left out of the history books: a same-sex romance that evolves into a marriage of sorts two centuries before this was legally possible. The markdown above produces the following HTML:

The Low Road is set in rural England, London and Australia in the early nineteenth century. It is based on a true story I found whilst visiting my parents in the quiet Waveney Valley of a Norfolk woman, Mary Tyrell, who was staked through the heart after death in 1813. She had been questioned repeatedly about a suspected infanticide.

An older daughter, known only by the initials A.T., had survived. I traced her to the Refuge for the Destitute in Hackney. She had met another destitute, Anne Simpkins, there and they forged a friendship that deepened into love. In December 1821 they stole laundry from the Refuge, but were caught, stood trial at the Old Bailey, and were sentenced to transportation. They went first to the Millbank Penitentiary, survived marsh fever and were transferred to the prison hulks before being pardoned in 1824. They then went on the town as prostitute. They both disappeared from the records - with just one last archive entry suggesting they were transported. The trail went cold so I decided to novelise their story but base it on a mosaic of the lives of men and women who were exiled in the largest forced migration in British history.

This novel is about uncovering lost histories: the stories of poor women from rural areas, the stories of the imprisoned, the stories of convicts sent to penal colonies, the stories of people who often left no records as a result of illiteracy and hardship. It also contains an important strand of narrative that explores experiences left out of the history books: a same-sex romance that evolves into a marriage of sorts two centuries before this was legally possible.

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Reviews

• A darkly gripping picaresque tale of cruelty, courage and kindness as an orphaned girl survives poverty and injustice to seek love on the other side of the world Maggie Gee, author of The White Family

• 'Vibrant... Quarmby immerses the reader into the early nineteenth century with this page-turning tale of forbidden passion and a womans ultimate triumph over adversity. A traditional saga, harking back to the glory days of Catherine Cookson, but with a very modern twist which is sure to appeal to todays reader. I look forward to reading more of her work' Michelle Styles, author of The Gladiator's Honour
• 'Quarmby spins an absorbing, tender and brutal tale that encompasses a London refuge for the destitute, rural Norfolk, and Van Diemens Land in Australia. This is a novel about love, betrayal, destitution and redemption. A heart-rending story, impeccably researched, packed with rich and realistic detail, and reminiscent of the work of Charlotte Bront and Sarah Waters' Jane Harris, author of The Observations
• 'Quarmby unites sympathetic examination of a fragmentary historical record with imaginative reconstruction to give a voice to a girl who endured the gravest injustice and misfortune over two centuries ago. Ever evocative of time and place. The Low Road reads compellingly as an act of love and restitution' Lydia Syson, author of A World Between Us

Author Bio

Katharine Quarmby has written non-fiction, short stories and books for children. The Low Road is her first novel. Her non-fiction works include Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People and No Place to Call Home: Inside the Real Lives of Gypsies and Travellers. She is also an investigative journalist and editor with particular interests in inequalities, the care system and the environment. Her reporting has appeared in outlets including the Guardian, The Economist, The Atlantic, The Times, the Telegraph, New Statesman and The Spectator. Katharine lives in London.