Ashes on the Moor

By: Sarah M. Eden

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

When Evangeline is sent to live in a small mill town in Northern England as a schoolteacher in 1871, she finds herself struggling to fit in with an unfamiliar culture. Raised with the high-class Victorian values and ideals of a sophisticated upbringing, she is unprepared for the poverty she finds in the gritty factory town of Smeatley, where the locals speak with a hard-to-understand Yorkshire accent and struggle to thrive with few resources or opportunities.

Though she has no training as a teacher, she must prove herself successful before her grandfather will release her substantial inheritance to her and allow her to be reunited with her younger sister, the last remaining member of her family after a fever claimed the lives of her parents and brothers.

Evangeline's sudden change in circumstances is complicated when her aunt - a woman who values class distinctions more than her family relationships - forbids her from acknowledging any connection to her or to her grandfather, Mr. Farr - the man who owns nearly the entire town. For the first time in her life, Evangeline is truly alone.

Heartbroken, she turns to the one person in town who has shown her kindness - an Irish brick mason, Dermot, and his son, Ronan. Despite the difference in their classes and backgrounds, Evangeline and Dermot become friends, due in part to her ability to connect with Ronan, whose behavior requires special attention. The boy is uncomfortable around strangers and rarely even speaks to the other children in town. He often fixates on details other people ignore, and he adheres to specific, self-made rules that give his life order and structure; for example, Dermot's coat must be hung on a specific peg next to the door.

Evangeline attempts to prove herself a worthy teacher and earn the respect of her hard-to-understand students. Determined to find a way to introduce them to "proper English" while still honoring their unique language and culture, she enlists the help of a local family to write down familiar stories in the Yorkshire vernacular. Because of her efforts, the students and their families warm to Evangeline and she continues to look for ways to give the children a chance to become more than factory workers in the local cotton mill.

When the town learns of her upper-class status, Evangeline must work twice as hard to win back their trust - especially Dermot's. In the end, Evangeline and Dermot discover that, even though they come from different social spheres, together they can overcome social prejudices, make a positive difference in the lives of even the humblest people, and enjoy the strength that comes when two hearts find each other.

Ashes on the Moor is the inspiring love story of one Victorian woman's courage to fight against all odds, and the man whose quiet strength gives her the confidence to keep trying.

©2018 Sarah M. Eden (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Beautiful Story, Masterful Narration!

I highly recommend this book! The love story portion is sweet and pure. I especially love Justine Eyre's masterful narration of so many different types of characters ... upper class British, Yorkshire & Irish folk, young and old, male and female. She is obviously blessed with an amazing gift for accents!!

Lovely story of personal growth

Wonderful narration - The story reminiscent of a Dickens tale. Loved the journey. Enjoyed the growth of strong characters.

delightful in all ways

I seriously could not recommend this delightful, pure, and inspirational book highly enough. The words and storytelling are perfect, and the performance was spot on. well done indeed!!!

well written.

I liked this book very much, it was well read and written. Easy to follow.

love

Loved this book. such a sweet story and well written too! I can't wait to hear the rest of this series.

Surprised

Good story and performances although I had a difficult time with the Irish dialect and the townspeople dialect. sometimes I had to play back several times, and sometimes I still couldn't decipher it. But it was worth it!

this book was excellent!!

I absolutely loved this book...... I will continue to try and follow this author.... totally calming.

An uplifting love story

The characters were multifaceted which I always enjoy. The love story was sweet and wholesome without being cringy and the evil aunt leant an underlying Dickens vibe that gave the story depth.

Finally a narrator who can speak with accurate regional accents!

Ms Justine Eyre has long been one of my favorite narrators, but this is the first time I’ve recognized her talent for performing distinctive regional accents/ dialects… no easy feat. She is the Meryl Streep of audiobooks. Brava Ms Eyre!

For those of you who prefer a proper old fashioned “clean” romance, this book qualifies, although that is only a fraction of the story/stories within.

Happy listening/ reading!

Wonderful Story

Loved this book! I laughed, I cried... alot but in the end a beautiful heart warming story. life was not easy.