Two women, two lives, two very different fates.

Josephine is one of the very few female journalists in Victorian England - not a job for a respectable young woman. Her chosen path is far from easy but she's determined and courageous.

Harriet is content to drift from one opportunity to another, from man to man, living by her singing, resorting to prostitution when times get tough. It's a turbulent, unpredictable life - a way of life which ultimately leads to her untimely end.

Josephine is horrified and yet fascinated by the case. If circumstances had been different, Harriet's fate could have been her own. The two women are close in age, their families not so very different. What made one life turn out this way?

Betty Burton has based this novel on a real-life tragedy and turns her storytelling talents to exploring the background. She writes of what it means to be a woman in a man's world - be it the ultimate victim with no control or the one who dares to try to break the mould.