The Secrets That Haunt Us

Some secrets can't be forgotten. Can they be forgiven?

Saturday, 6th March, 1971. As women from all social backgrounds descend on London's Hyde Park, preparing to protest together for equal pay, abortion rights, education and childcare, heavily pregnant Julia boards a train from the north heading to the capital, and to the love of her life. At the same time, her mother, Emmeline, named after the famous suffragette, Mrs Pankhurst, is alone in London to face her own memories, regrets – and the man who has threatened to destroy her daughter.

While Julia's husband, David, is left alone at home to unearth a Pandora's Box of secrets long buried, another man waits patiently to play his destructive endgame. All he needs now is for the woman who broke his heart to come to him.

A family fractured by unspoken secrets and heartbreaking memories which are coming back to haunt them. Set on one memorable day in 1971, this is a devastatingly emotional book about memory, betrayal, the need to confront the past, and how our perceptions of our own histories are sometimes built on sand.

Can we ever accept the past and the secrets it holds, to find a way to rewrite the pain? Most importantly, can we truly forgive our past selves so we can learn to live in the present?

PLEASE NOTE: This book was previously published as Baby up the Chimney.