Showing results by author "Valerie Wood" in All Categories

When Laura Page returns to the remote Holderness village of Welwick, it is to try and discover the mystery of her mother Susannah’s early life. Now a local property owner in Hull, Susannah never speaks of her childhood, when she was brought up with the terrible stigma of bastardy – of being nobody’s child. Born into poverty, living in a tiny labourer’s cottage with her father, Susannah’s mother had caught the eye of the local landowner’s son.

Young Mikey Quinn, scavenging on the streets of Hull, is thrown into prison for stealing a rabbit from the butcher. His chief accuser, a well-to-do lawyer, has a daughter, Eleanor, whom he badly mistreats. When Mikey is released he finds that his mother has died and his brothers taken into the workhouse - determined to find a better life for his family, he walks all the way to London to seek his fortune.

Poppy Mazzini, born in Hull over her father’s grocery shop, lives up to the promise of her fiery red hair and Italian ancestry. Her lovely singing voice and good looks lead her to her great ambition - to go on the stage and see her name top of the bill. She becomes a music hall star both in her native town and in the south, after an appearance in the theatre at Brighton.

When Georgiana and her maid, Kitty, make the long sea journey from their native East Yorkshire to America, they are seeking a new life of freedom. But in New York Georgiana encounters a man passing himself off as her brother-in-law Edward Newmarch, a local mill-owner’s son who has abandoned her sister and fled to America. Edward himself seems to have vanished....

Hull, 1874. Clara had always wondered about the beautiful, mysterious Jewel Newmarch, who was adopted as a baby and turns heads wherever she goes - her exotic looks point to her origins far away from the streets of Hull. Even at her twin sister Elizabeth’s wedding, Clara knows that Jewel is the belle of the ball. And as Jewel looks on at the happy, newly-married couple she feels a restlessness and intense longing to know her own roots.

From big cities to small towns, museums are everywhere. From natural history to art and everything in between, museums speak to different interests and backgrounds. Now peek behind the curtain and learn more about the museum world. Welcome to The M Files! Listen in as three museum professionals share and discuss professional topics and news impacting the museum world, along with interviews from museum colleagues from across the United States.