The house, she was promised, is the first clean page in a new book for girls like her . . .

1847, Shepherds Bush. Charles Dickens' home for fallen women is about to open its doors. Part refuge, part reformatory, the house and its location are top secret, and Martha Gelder and Josephine Nash among its first inmates. But faced with the chance to redeem themselves, how badly do they want it?

Across town, in her Piccadilly mansion, Dickens' friend, the millionaire Angela Burdett Coutts, receives news that turns her orderly world upside down. Her stalker has been freed from prison, and she knows it's only a matter of time before their nightmarish game resumes once more.