The ragamuffins - Anna King

Set at the turn of the century (1890s - 1900s) in the East End of London it's about a baker, Arthur, who marries the nave 18-year-old Ellen after her parents were killed in a fire.

Agnes, who has helped in the bakery for many years, is jealous of Arthur's young wife Ellen - a loathing fuelled in part by the feelings she has long held for the baker himself.

Ellen meanwhile is starting to have doubts about her relationship with Arthur. When her parents died in a house fire, it was Arthur, her father's best friend who took her in. Afraid of facing the world alone she decided to marry him: a decision with consequences she is only just beginning to understand.

When Ellen offers to help the young street orphan Micky, Agnes is quick to report her to Arthur for encouraging beggars. But Arthur considers giving Micky some work and Agnes knows she must act quickly or lose her job. The trap that she sets for Micky, howeve, has deadly consequences that no-one could have foreseen....