The Flower Girl - Tapa dura

Elizabeth Lord is a natural storyteller. (Ruth Rendell)

Elizabeth Lord carries her readers along through the highs and lows of life in her strong family sagas. (Gilda O'Neill)

Since her stevedore father's death, Emma Beech has been the main bread-winner of her family, making a living selling paper flowers to the theatre crowds in the West-End. They make just enough to keep a roof over their heads, especially as her brother Ben is out of work more often than in. But Emma dreams of escaping the poverty of the East End. Dreams that seem more achievable when she meets former magician turned street musician Theodore Barrington. Though Barrington may be down on his luck, he turns Emma's head with tales of his former glory when he was the talk of the London stage as the Great Theodore. He gives Emma just enough encouragement for her to entertain the notion of becoming his assistant for a new act. But when Emma's mother learns of their secret rehearsals, she is scandalised at the very thought of her daughter going on the stage. Emma is forced to make a difficult decision: between her family and her roots, and fame, fortune and the magnetic charm of the Great Theodore...