Small Gains

Set just after the Napoleonic wars, Small Gains is the story of Clara, a true heroine who struggles to keep her head above water in a time of poverty and prejudice. Nat, the cruel but incredibly attractive son of the local rich family, turns both Clara and her family's lives upside down, both in the world of racing and in the flushes of first love. And with the threat of tuberculosis hanging over them all, Clara faces up to her extraordinary life and loves with certainty and passion. This is a powerful novel - the story that Jane Austen never told.

An epic story of the Garlands and the Groves, two families whose destiny is devastatingly intertwined . . .

Since the death of their mother, the Garland family have struggled to survive. Margaret, beautiful and spoilt, is desperately ill with consumption; Jack, headstrong and wilful, rebels against their poverty-stricken circumstances, and it is left to young Clara to keep the family going.

The rich, landowning Grover family are ruthless and arrogant, and care little for others; their cruel behaviour towards their horses shows the contempt with which they treat everyone. So when Margaret falls madly in love with the youngest Grover son, events soon spiral out of control for everyone, not least Clara. But she tells the story of her remarkable life and loves with certainty and passion.

Set at the turn of the nineteenth century, Small Gains is an extraordinary story by a master storyteller.