Rating: 2/5
It’s midway through the English Industrial Revolution and the railway is being built. Motherless Jem Penfold has never seen anything so exciting. But the other village folk don’t like the change. And they especially don’t like the grubby, Catholic, noisy Irish navvies that are laying down the tracks.
One day, a jolly navvy knocks at Jem and his sister Kate’s door. His name is Conor O’Flynn, and he is looking for lodging at the Penfolds’ cottage. Kate immediately declines—the villagers would hate them forever—but soon the lack of money overwhelms her, and she changes her mind. Tension leads to brutality, and brutality leads to tragedy…
I thought this book was quite good. Most of it was written well, and the plot was ok. It was sad at the end, though!