A Bad Woman

IT TAKES A BAD WOMAN TO MAKE A BAD MAN, the saying goes. Though Queen Victoria's affair with John Brown raises barely an eyebrow, it's a different story for her working-class subjects.

In Scotland, Bella and Isa each discover the harsh realities of loss and single parenthood. Like Victoria, the supposed moral compass of the nation, they risk their reputations to survive tragedy and retain their sanity, only their efforts are met with public censure and humiliation.

The fates of all three share uncanny parallels, yet posterity will brand one of them A BAD WOMAN. But then nothing is ever as it seems ...