As history threatens to repeat itself, the actions of one young woman lead to tragic consequences...

In the first instalment of the Emma Grady trilogy, Josephine Cox's Outcast is an extraordinarily powerful saga of a passionate, yet impossible, love. Perfect for fans of Cathy Sharp and Kitty Neale.

On a fateful night in 1860, Thadius Grady realises, too late, that he has made a grave mistake. In blind faith he has put himself and his daughter Emma at the mercy of his sister and her conniving husband, Caleb Crowther - for he has entrusted to them his entire fortune and the daughter he adores. With his dying breath he pleads to see his daughter one last time - but Caleb's heart is made of stone.

A feared Lancashire Justice, Caleb Crowther is a womaniser and a gambler, and now the inheritance due to Emma is as much in his hands as is the beautiful Emma Grady herself. But Caleb lives in fear of the past, for how did Emma's mother mysteriously die? And what made Thadius and Caleb hate the river people so intensely? History seems likely to repeat itself when Emma falls helplessly in love with Marlow Tanner, a young bargee. For Marlow and Emma, it is an impossible love - a love made in Heaven, but which could carry them both to Hell...

What readers are saying about Outcast:

'A dark and somewhat disturbing tale of intrigue, mystery and romance; of treacherous relatives and doomed love affairs'

'I loved this story. You can really feel the emotions of the characters and the threats they face. The actions and settings are so vividly described that you could almost be in the scenes yourself'

'One of the best books I've ever read'

Josephine Cox was born in a cotton-mill house in Blackburn, one of ten children. At the age of sixteen, Josephine met and married her husband Ken, and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to college and eventually gained a place at Cambridge University. She was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home, but she went into teaching - and started to write her first full-length novel. Her strong, gritty stories are taken from the tapestry of life.