The Gallows Girl - Tapa dura

Isaac and Harriet Curtis are in trouble. Their Hampshire coaching inn, Green Gallows, is threatened by the rumours of a new turnpike stretching from London to Portsmouth. The new road will leech all the important trade away from the inn and ruin Isaac's plans for expansion. All will not be lost if they can still succeed in landing a titled - and wealthy - husband for their eldest daughter, Lucy. No expense is spared in grooming her for a better life; while their youngest daughter, Rachel, is little more than a servant. Rachel cannot help but envy her sister her pretty dresses and the easy admiration she wins from stable hands and gentlemen alike. But while Rachel's world seldom stretches beyond the stable yard or taproom, she little dreams that Lucy would give anything to trade places with her. For when their father's business plans crumble he does not hesitate in trading Lucy's virtue to pay his debts. But neither sister will submit to her fate without protest, even if it will be left to Rachel to pay the price for her sister's final act of defiance. And it will be Rachel too who seeks the ultimate revenge...

Having discovered the joys of reading at a very early age, Melanie Gifford always knew that when she grew up she would be a writer. She currently lives in Scotland with her partner and two cats.