What do you think?
Rate this book
The Stubble Field
When they are left orphans and turned out of their tied cottage, fourteen year old Sarah Jane is forced to take her young brother to the dreaded workhouse, but she vows it will only be a temporary refuge. ‘One day I’ll be a lady,’ she tells herself. ‘One day I’ll wear silks and satins an’ ride in a carriage and people will look up to me and obey me the minute I open me mouth like they do Lady Chevington. Cookin’ an’ sewin’ an’ launderin’ jus’ won’t come into it.’But Sarah Jane has a long journey to make before she comes anywhere near to realising her ambition. She grows up to be a real beauty who unwittingly attracts men like a magnet. There is Thomas Wistonby, a lawyer with an unhappy past who teaches her to read and write; Timothy Myson, the illegitimate son of Lord Chevington who seduces her when she is working as a skivvy at his lordship’s country mansion; there is Duncan McBryde, the gentle giant of a navvy who befriends her when, pregnant and afraid, she is turned off from her job and whose death in an explosion at the railway workings devastates her; there is Henry Carter, whom she tricks into backing her venture into setting up a string of pie shops. And there is Lord Chevington himself, who is called the ‘Railway Lord’ because he is heavily involved in building railways. She leaves her mark on the lives of all them.
- GenresRomance
Paperback
First published December 28, 1993
13 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Mary Nichols
174 books44 followersBorn in Singapore to a Dutch-South African father and an English mother, Mary Nichols came to England when she was three and considers herself totally English. Her father, like many people who learn English as a second language, would have no sloppiness, either spoken or written, and Mary puts her love of the language down to him. He was also a great reader and there were always books in the house so that Mary learned to read at a very early age. She read anything that came to hand, whether it was suitable or not! By the time she was nine or ten, her one ambition was to be a writer.
Her first novel, handwritten in several school exercise books, was completed when she was fifteen. Not having any idea of how to go about finding a publisher, she wrapped it up and sent it to the editor of the woman's monthly magazine to which her mother subscribed. It says a great deal for that editor that she took the trouble to read it and sent Mary a long and very encouraging letter, which put her ambition into overdrive.
Finishing her education and finding a job took over in the next few years, followed by an early marriage and a family. When her children were all at school she joined her local writers' circle. Publication of articles and stories in a variety of periodicals and magazines followed, but the ambition to be a novelist never wavered and throughout the time she was writing and selling short pieces she was working on her novels.
Mary joined the Romantic Novelists Association in the 1960s. Her first novel was a contemporary one published by Robert Hale in 1981 and that was followed by nine more. Mary sent her first historical romance to Mills and Boon in 1985 and was delighted when a telephone call three weeks later told her it had been accepted. Since then she has been a regular writer for the historical series. Among these is a miniseries about a group of gentleman in the mid-eighteenth century who form a club to track down criminals, a sort of private detective agency, which naturally leads each of them into romance.
She is also the author of family sagas, published by Allison and Busby. She has also written a biography of her grandmother, entitled The Mother of Necton, who was the midwife and nurse in the village of Necton in Norfolk from 1910 until the advent of the National Health Service in 1948.
Apart from when her children were small, Mary always had a 'day job', being a school secretary, an editor of a house journal and an information manager for a database of open learning courses. Now writing full time, Mary spends part of every day at her computer producing her novels and divides the rest of the time between reading and research and gardening. Occasionally she gives talks about her writing to groups and societies. “Writing for me is an addiction,” Mary says. “I am not happy if I haven't got a book on the go and if my readers enjoy what I have written, then that is an added bonus.”
Her first novel, handwritten in several school exercise books, was completed when she was fifteen. Not having any idea of how to go about finding a publisher, she wrapped it up and sent it to the editor of the woman's monthly magazine to which her mother subscribed. It says a great deal for that editor that she took the trouble to read it and sent Mary a long and very encouraging letter, which put her ambition into overdrive.
Finishing her education and finding a job took over in the next few years, followed by an early marriage and a family. When her children were all at school she joined her local writers' circle. Publication of articles and stories in a variety of periodicals and magazines followed, but the ambition to be a novelist never wavered and throughout the time she was writing and selling short pieces she was working on her novels.
Mary joined the Romantic Novelists Association in the 1960s. Her first novel was a contemporary one published by Robert Hale in 1981 and that was followed by nine more. Mary sent her first historical romance to Mills and Boon in 1985 and was delighted when a telephone call three weeks later told her it had been accepted. Since then she has been a regular writer for the historical series. Among these is a miniseries about a group of gentleman in the mid-eighteenth century who form a club to track down criminals, a sort of private detective agency, which naturally leads each of them into romance.
She is also the author of family sagas, published by Allison and Busby. She has also written a biography of her grandmother, entitled The Mother of Necton, who was the midwife and nurse in the village of Necton in Norfolk from 1910 until the advent of the National Health Service in 1948.
Apart from when her children were small, Mary always had a 'day job', being a school secretary, an editor of a house journal and an information manager for a database of open learning courses. Now writing full time, Mary spends part of every day at her computer producing her novels and divides the rest of the time between reading and research and gardening. Occasionally she gives talks about her writing to groups and societies. “Writing for me is an addiction,” Mary says. “I am not happy if I haven't got a book on the go and if my readers enjoy what I have written, then that is an added bonus.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 13, 2024
Ma toute première romance historique, un coup de coeur que j'ai lu plusieurs fois. On fait face à la difficulté des orphelins au 19e siècle, et on admire la force de Sarah jJane
December 15, 2025
j ai beaucoup aimé ce livre. Addictif !!!
September 20, 2019
Un roman dont la couverture m'a envoutée et je n'ai pas été déçue de ma lecture. A travers le personnage de Sarah Jane, nous découvrons le début du rail en Angleterre (mais aussi la riche idée du métro) ainsi que les différences de classes. Sarah Jane "a de la chance", elle est belle, elle est bonne et aussi très ingénue. Malheureusement, elle est née du mauvais côté de la barrière et elle doit apprendre très vite à combattre la pauvreté tout en veillant sur ses proches et en cherchant à s'instruire.Nous suivons donc la vie de Sarah Jane depuis la ferme qu'on la force à quitter pour l'orphelinat où elle rencontre son mentor (dans tous les sens du terme...) avant de rentrer au service des Chevington... où elle va connaitre la passion puis... (non je vous laisse lire le roman). Le personnage de Sarah Jane est réellement attachant, tout en nuance et je ne peux qu'admirer sa pugnacité. Elle veut réussir, et elle y parvient à force de tenter sa chance. J'aime aussi le fait qu'elle n'oublie jamais son petit frère et la promesse qu'elle lui a fait. Le personnage de Pâris m'a également beaucoup plu (même si à certains moments on le déteste !) ainsi que toute les références à la mythologie. La fin est bien amenée, logique, réfléchie et au final, une relation que l'on voit se construire pendant tout le roman ( une certaine idée de la destinée). J'aime aussi le combat pour l'instruction des enfants défavorisés ainsi que le côté maternel de Sarah Jane.
Ce que j'aime : Sarah Jane, le back ground historique et sociétal du roman, les références à la mythologie grecque, la manière dont le destin intervient
Ce que j'aime moins : la manière dont les choses tournent pour Billy et Timothy
En bref : Une belle fresque romantique portée par une héroïne aussi belle qu'attachante et tenace.
Ma note
7,5/10
Ce que j'aime : Sarah Jane, le back ground historique et sociétal du roman, les références à la mythologie grecque, la manière dont le destin intervient
Ce que j'aime moins : la manière dont les choses tournent pour Billy et Timothy
En bref : Une belle fresque romantique portée par une héroïne aussi belle qu'attachante et tenace.
Ma note
7,5/10
August 22, 2012
Read this after promises & pie crusts which was the wrong way around as I knew what was going to happen!! However it was interesting to find out why and how what happened did!
September 16, 2012
Loved this book, kept my interest all the way through.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews