MEG HUTCHINSON

`You be a cheat and a liar Katy Hawley, no wonder your folks d`aint want you! Well we don`t want you neither, do we girls?` It was only a playground spat but the cruel words burned like acid into Katrin Hawley`s brain. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold and Katrin waited until she could hit her persecutors where it hurt. However, in her pursuit of vengeance, Katrin takes a fatal step too far. Meg Hutchinson`s new novel chronicles the ruthlessly destructive quest of one damaged woman at a time when the onslaught of German bombs was daily robbing families of their loved ones. Just as the stalwart men and women of the Black Country were pulling together for victory, one obsessive woman sought only to satisfy her own malignant, vindictive craving for retribution.

This is an omnibus edition containing two books by Meg Hutchinson - 'Abel's Daughter' and 'A Handful of Silver'.

Anne Corby flees from Russia when her mother dies in the wild savagery of the steppes. Pregnant with an illegitimate child - the result of a brutal rape, Anna returns to Darlaston with nothing but a mysterious talisman, wrapped in a black velvet cloth, in which the peace of nations resides. But a return to Darlaston holds no sanctuary. For it is home to Anne's aunt Clara, who sees the girl's bastard as a threat to her ownership of Glebe Metalworks.As war clouds gather, Clara resolves to remove the usurper by fair means or foul, and enlists her depraved son Quenton in her evil plan. The turbulent years of the First World War create a dramatic backdrop for Meg Hutchinson's new novel in which Anne, the brave heroine, struggles to save her child and to survive her heritage of shame.

Saran Chandler stands by as her mother and sister are sold by the vile Enoch Jacobs and narrowly escapes the same fate. When Enoch drowns, Saran swears she will not rest until she has secured her family's release, but penniless and friendless, she barely knows where to start.

Increasingly deperate poverty after her beloved father's suicide forces a crisis for Callista Stanford. Homeless and destitute, Callista finds refuge with Abigail and Daniel Roberts. But there is no happy ending yet; an unseen enemy, a depraved woman, lurks in the shadows, intent to harm her.

When her selfish, flighty sister leaves home to become the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner, Alyssa becomes solely responsible for her poor, deranged mother as well as for Thea's bastard son. Viciously raped, then thrown out of the family home, the girl goes on the run, fleeing her cruel rapist. Alyssa's journey is a perilous one.