Manchester 1819. Prices are high and wages are low, but as the poor become poorer, the rich are alarmed by their calls for reform.

Mill-worker Nancy Kay struggles to support her ailing mother and sensitive son. Desperate to provide for them, she is inspired to join the growing agitation. But, as she risks everything to attend a great assembly on St Peter’s Field, Nancy is unaware the day will go down in history, not as a triumph but as tragedy; the Peterloo massacre.

This is one woman’s story of belief in change, pieced together by her family and friends and the two men who share her momentous summer. A story of hope, and sacrifice, and above all, courage.

'Vivid, gripping and so evocative' Dr Janette Martin

'A compelling account of this fateful day in British political history' The Historical Novel Society

'Moving and beautifully written' Emma Darwin

'Lyrical, earthy and compelling' Brian Keaney

'A powerful, heartfelt story' James Wilson

'A heroine not just for 1819 but 2019 too' Dr Jacqueline Riding, Historian, Curator and Author

'This moving tale will bring history alive' Julie Barham, Northernreader