Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Black Country Orphan

By: Annie Murray
Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.52

Buy for $21.52

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength of women, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Annie Murray.

The early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near Birmingham and centre of the world’s chain-making trade.

Lucy Butler, a young girl crippled by a cruel accident, lives with her two brothers and widowed mother, a chain-maker barely making ends meet. When tragedy strikes, the Butler family is separated and Lucy is taken in by Bertha Hipkiss, another impoverished chain maker, struggling to look after her own family.

Lucy, while feeling the loss of her own family, relies on the company of Bertha’s two sons, charming Clem and straight-laced John. Though clever at school, Lucy knows she must leave and earn her keep, working many hours in the backyard forge. The five women toiling side by side, inevitably have their own friendships and squabbles. But they’re united in their hatred of loathsome middleman Seth Dawson, who treats the women with contempt, and keeps their pay punishingly low.

But by the 1910s, there is a movement stirring, as across the country workers begin unionising for their rights. For Lucy, Bertha and the women of Cradley Heath, the promise of a better life seems almost too much to hope for - and the fight may end up costing them everything . . .

©2021 Annie Murray (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Black Country Orphan

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.