Josephine and Harriet - Tapa dura

‘Betty Burton constructs the world from the female point of view – carefully considered, subtle and observant’. Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times

‘[FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN] is a colourful book – as compelling as a mid-morning gossip over the garden wall’ Sunday Telegraph

‘The dilemmas Lu faces [in THE GIRL NOW LEAVING] are still relevant to women today, and she emerges as a typical Betty Burton heroine – strong, independent’ Dorset Evening Echo

A novel of two very different women, trying to live their own lives in Victorian London

Josephine has always had an indomitable spirit and is determined to make her own luck. Her chosen path is far from easy, as women journalists are almost unheard of in Victorian England, let alone ones who specialise in crime reports.

Harriet is content to drift from one opportunity to another, from man to man, living by her singing,ending up in prostitution before meeting a tragic end. Josephine is horrified and fascinated by the case; they would have been the same age, from not so very dissimilar families. What made one life turn out this way?

Betty Burton turns her considerable storytelling talents to this exploration of what it means to be a woman in a man’s world – be it the ultimate victim with no control or the one who dares to try to break the mould.