Showing results by author "Marilyn Freeman" in All Categories

Coalbrookdale is a work of fiction based on the life of Joseph Bangham, who lived in the Severn Gorge 300 years ago. He worked for the Coalbrookdale ironworks when Abraham Darby was perfecting the use of coal in the production of iron. These developments facilitated the mass production of iron, and as the technology spread, industry thrived. This was a pivotal moment in the history of the modern world. This is a story of an ordinary family living at an extraordinary time and in the district known as the "cradle of the Industrial Revolution".

Jack Long is enjoying a rare opportunity to spend an afternoon at the beach alone with his son, when tragedy strikes. Years of heartache follow, but Jack gradually rebuilds his life, eventually finding a measure of peace, until one day, a 12-year-old boy literally cycles into his life, and the nightmare begins again.

Sophie lives a comfortable life with her family in Bath before discovering that her mother, Joan, gave a baby up for adoption 40 years ago. Of course she could have had no idea what effect that decision was to have, not only on her son's life, but also on her own and her future family's. Decisions made with the best of intentions, sometimes result in unintended consequences, as in this case.

The year is 1972. Following a fatal accident, 22-year-old Adrienne makes a chance discovery that propels her to Paris in an effort to uncover what happened to her mother, who had deserted the family home 10 years before. A man professing to be her father agrees to help her and travels with her to Paris. What Adrienne discovers is a saga that spans three decades, with its roots in the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1942.

While Joe and his relatives continue their laborious work at Darby ironworks in Coalbrookdale, his brother Richard, through his marriage to a Bridgnorth Corn Merchant's daughter, ascends the social ladder. The novel unfolds, weaving in moral and ethical complexities as it portrays the realities of 18th-century England's justice system. Through the Banghams' interactions with the law, the narrative sheds light on the grim aspects of prisoner transportation to America and the struggles of its enslaved populace, introducing the emerging anti-slavery sentiment.