A mother's shame - Rosie Goodwin

On the outskirts of Nuneaton stands Hatter's Hall, a dark forbidding place - home to the mentally insane. One rainy, dismal day in 1857, Maria Mundy arrives at Hatter's Hall, not as an inmate but as a worker. Here, she is ordered to care for Isabelle Montgomery, the daughter of an influential land-owner. But Isabelle is not insane. She, like many other young women confined within the solitary walls, has been banished here by her family. Hatter's Hall also serves as a place to hide unmarried women, in the family way, from prying eyes.

As their lives become entwined, the women realise the perils of their predicament. They both withhold secrets that could cost them everything. There is one person who can help them escape, Isabelle's brother Joshua - who can barely keep his eyes off Maria. For if they stay at Hatter's Hall, there's every chance they might never leave.

It's going to take courage, determination, and resolve - but freedom is always worth fighting for.