River Maid, The (The River Maid, Book 1)

London, 1854: twenty-year-old Essie Chapman lives with her father in poverty stricken Limehouse, working on the river as a boatman. Her life seems set before her, never to leave this part of London and forever at her father¿s beck and call.

Then, one night, she must transport a mysterious man from a foreign ship to the banks of the Thames, a man who ends up renting a room in Essie¿s house, identifying himself only as `Raven¿.

When curiosity gets the better of her, Essie follows him and unwittingly becomes involved in something far greater than she could ever have guessed. Finding herself on a ship bound for the penal colonies in Australia with Raven and his cousin Alice, this is only the start of a remarkable journey taking her to the other side of the world and back again¿