Alone Beneath the Heaven: A gripping saga of escapism, love and belonging

One young woman dares to dream of a better life...

Alone Beneath the Heaven from Rita Bradshaw is a powerful and absorbing saga, set in Sunderland and London in the 1940s. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Sheila Newberry.

One freezing night in the 1930s, a baby is left to die in a public lavatory in Sunderland. But she doesn't die. Sarah Brown is from sturdy stock, and she needs to be, for the orphanage where she grows up is run with brutal efficiency by child-hating Matron Cox. Only Sarah dares to defy her - with horrific consequences.

Sarah survives, emerging from the Home as a beautiful and determined young woman, with a post in London as a housekeeper. She's more than capable of dealing with her employer's son, who has a penchant for young servants. And when she meets again Rodney Mallard, the young doctor who tended her after a beating in the Home, Sarah begins to dream of a different kind of future.

But serpents lie in every paradise. And, whatever personal battles she wins or loses, Sarah won't be completely happy 'til she knows why she was abandoned by her mother, the one person who should have loved her more than life itself...

What readers are saying about Alone Beneath the Heaven:

'Gripping from beginning to end. Definitely one of my favourite authors. This book has kept me up past my bed time because I couldn't put it down'

'I really enjoyed Alone Beneath the Heaven. As with her other books, I found it so readable and hard to put down. She's an excellent writer. Her stories are gritty and real and I love that her heroines are always very moral'

'It is a heart-warming story of perseverance and determination and has all the right ingredients'