I was keen to read this book as I live in this area and it's always fun to read books set in an area you recognise. Obviously, it's a very different landscape and this was something I felt the author described well. I could picture the furnaces very clearly and I was able to feel the heat and see the clouds of smoke and ashes.

The book tells the story of two girls, from different stations in life. Anny is a clever, but poor child and Margaret is the daughter from The Big House, younger child of the Furnace owner. These two meet and become close friends and the story is based around their lives and friendship.

The book ambles along nicely, but I wouldn't exactly call it a page turner. More the sort of book you can dip in and out of when you have the time. I didn't really understand the reason for introducing the Baby on the Bridge- unless it was to lay the groundwork for another book. It certainly wasn't explored in any detail in this one, which was a real shame as the opening chapter was so promising!

Overall, I enjoyed this story, but I think that was more to do with the interesting era and the setting, rather than the actual characters. I found that I wasn't particularly attached to any of them and read to see what happened with mild curiosity rather than a burning desire. I also felt the ending was rather abrupt, particularly in Margaret's case. I would have liked a little more on what she planned to do next and how she achieved it! Anny's chapters concluded believing she'd got above her station and the life she was left with was all she deserved, which wasn't particularly cheery either. I'm glad I read and finished it, but I wouldn't rush to read it again. Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book.

A lovely start to what I’m sure is going to be an interesting saga. This is the first book of a trilogy and I love books which look deep into the heritage and culture of a place. Here, a place on the map, Ironbridge gets a nice mention and its history and heritage jump from the page. It’s not somewhere I’d heard off much so to get a book set in the heart of its history was a real thrill.

I do love these saga novels. Sometimes they get a bad rep as books for older readers, and the covers aren’t always great, but the contents are really quite something. Fascinating stories and the history of people and places, working class people with real issues and struggles. Brilliantly written too in this case. Easy to read and fascinating with it.

You can tell the author has taken great pains to get the history right. She does mention a few museums in the credits which are on TheBookTrail map, but it’s the people behind them, the character of the working iron factory etc, the daily noise and smells that really where this novel shines. Each characters is as carefully modelled as that iron - no set moulds but people with real flaws and real lives. Anny in particular was a favourite of mine - she might not have had the best start in life, but she saw her future as improving herself rather than completely escaping her past.
The industry and life depicted in the novel is one I knew little about but I feel that I’ve stepped back in time and got a real sense of that time period and got to understand people then and their motivations. In keeping with the time and setting, I would say that this is a meat and two veg kind of novel - lots to chew over but ultimately satisfying. Can’t wait for the next course!

What a beautiful and memorable story. The totally different lives of the very poor and the very rich are portrayed exceptionally in this story.
But riches don't necessarily bring happiness. Honesty and hard work are the mainstay of the workers at the steel works owned by the King family from the big house.
But tragedy strikes.
I loved this story and would highly recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read it.