The House of Falconer Series

A gripping Victorian trilogy following James Falconer, a bright barrow-boy who fights his way up to become a man of wealth and stature, building his own retail empire – but for whom personal happiness remains elusive. Sweeping through the change and expansion of late Victorian Britain, its grand houses and glorious fashions, and moving from London’s crowded terraces to the glamour of Paris, the great houses of the English countryside and Yorkshire’s bustling cities, it introduces a brand-new family, the Falconers, and their loves, betrayals and triumphs.

Master of His Fate introduces James Falconer, who works as a barrow boy at a flourishing London market, but hungers for more. Despite a close, happy family who are employed working in service and on the market, he yearns for a bigger life, dreaming of an empire of stores like Fortnum and Masons’. He believes that the market’s owner, Henry Malvern, along with his daughter and heir, Alexis, could offer him a way to climb beyond his beginnings. But tragedy and betrayal threaten both James and Alexis – and jeopardise everything they hold dear…

In the Lion’s Den follows James as he works his way up in Henry Malvern’s trading company in Piccadilly. A fierce rivalry develops with Henry’s daughter and heir Alexis – but their animosity masks a powerful attraction. Determined to ignore it, James embarks on a love affair with the daughter of Russian émigrés – but must decide where his future lies – with Henry Malvern or following his own dream…

The Wonder of it All opens in 1916 as James stands in the trenches in The Somme, awaiting the command to go over the top. Away from his empire, he is simply a soldier, war the great leveller. But, unlike his men, deep down, James doesn’t care if he lives or dies, his personal life as barren as the war-torn fields around him. When injury sends him home, the war has left terrible scars, both personal and professional, and swept huge changes through the glittering world he once inhabited. James is offered the chance to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Leonie – but he must decide if he can make space in his life for love.