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Bread & Ashes
She has nothing left to lose except her children.
Barnstaple, 1870. When hunger tightens its grip and her husband vanishes without a trace, Sarah Wren is left with an impossible watch her children starve or surrender them to the workhouse. She chooses survival, knowing the cost may be everything.
Inside the cold stone walls, families are torn apart, names are reduced to entries in a ledger, and hope is a luxury few can afford. Separated from her children and stripped of the life she once knew, Sarah is expected to obey, endure, and disappear.
She refuses.
Because Sarah begins to see what others do not. She sees the waste. She sees the cracks in the system. And she realises that even in a place designed to break people, there are weaknesses.
What begins as desperation becomes something far more dangerous. A quiet, calculated fight for survival in a world that has already taken too much.
And Sarah Wren is not done fighting.
“Brutal, beautiful, and impossible to forget.”
“A story that stays with you long after the final page.”
“Heartbreaking, gripping, and so vividly real I felt every moment.”
“A heroine you don’t just root for—you ache for her.”
“Quietly powerful and completely unputdownable.”
Perfect for readers who love gritty Victorian historical fiction, emotionally driven stories, and strong female leads who refuse to be broken. Ideal for fans of immersive, character-led novels that explore survival, resilience, and the fierce, unbreakable bond between a mother and her children.
Barnstaple, 1870. When hunger tightens its grip and her husband vanishes without a trace, Sarah Wren is left with an impossible watch her children starve or surrender them to the workhouse. She chooses survival, knowing the cost may be everything.
Inside the cold stone walls, families are torn apart, names are reduced to entries in a ledger, and hope is a luxury few can afford. Separated from her children and stripped of the life she once knew, Sarah is expected to obey, endure, and disappear.
She refuses.
Because Sarah begins to see what others do not. She sees the waste. She sees the cracks in the system. And she realises that even in a place designed to break people, there are weaknesses.
What begins as desperation becomes something far more dangerous. A quiet, calculated fight for survival in a world that has already taken too much.
And Sarah Wren is not done fighting.
“Brutal, beautiful, and impossible to forget.”
“A story that stays with you long after the final page.”
“Heartbreaking, gripping, and so vividly real I felt every moment.”
“A heroine you don’t just root for—you ache for her.”
“Quietly powerful and completely unputdownable.”
Perfect for readers who love gritty Victorian historical fiction, emotionally driven stories, and strong female leads who refuse to be broken. Ideal for fans of immersive, character-led novels that explore survival, resilience, and the fierce, unbreakable bond between a mother and her children.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 15, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2026
Hardships
What a beautiful story.From beginning to end this book had you in The Workhouse,going through terrible hardships with this family.Lovely ending.Thirteen weeks was used rather excessively.
What a beautiful story.From beginning to end this book had you in The Workhouse,going through terrible hardships with this family.Lovely ending.Thirteen weeks was used rather excessively.
September 6, 2026
The Strength of a Mother
I loved thid book. I felt for the mother who fought so hard for her children. It is hard to think how people survived under those circumstances.
I loved thid book. I felt for the mother who fought so hard for her children. It is hard to think how people survived under those circumstances.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews