The Lost Voices

Step into 17th-century England, where ambition can be dangerous, love can be forbidden, and survival often comes at a price.

John and Robert Rushworth are sons of the Yorkshire moors, but the promise of a different life draws them towards the bustling streets of Leeds. What awaits them is a world far removed from the one they have known — a place of opportunity and temptation, populated by beggars and thieves, merchants and soldiers, Puritans and prostitutes.

And everyone has something to hide.

John Wilding, a brutal man of humble origins, is determined to capture Robert Rushworth and claim the reward that could transform his fortunes. Milton Killsin is a Puritan concealing desires of his own. Captain Girlington finds himself torn between the call of the sea and an unexpected love.

As their lives collide, the Rushworth brothers are drawn into a dangerous web of forbidden romance, betrayal, murder and intrigue.

But in a society where class determines opportunity and one wrong decision can alter the course of a life, how far will a man go to escape the circumstances of his birth?

And will Robert Rushworth ultimately pay for his misdeeds?

The Lost Voices brings the forgotten world of 17th-century Yorkshire vividly to life — not through kings and great battles, but through the ordinary people who lived, loved, struggled and survived beneath them.

A sweeping historical novel of family, class, ambition, love and survival from Paul Rushworth-Brown.

Some lives pass through history without leaving a trace. Their stories still deserve to be heard.