C J Carey

London, 1953, Coronation year - but not the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Thirteen years have passed since a Grand Alliance between Great Britain and Germany was formed. George VI and his family have been murdered and Edward VIII rules as King. Yet true power resides in one man, Alfred Rosenberg, Britain’s Protector. The role and status of women is Rosenberg’s particular interest. Rose Ransom belongs to an elite caste of women and works at the Ministry of Culture, rewriting literature to correct the views of the past. This is a world where the great novels by women are too famous to be banned so they must be censored and rewritten, and their influence controlled. But now Rose has been given a new task. Across the country graffiti is being daubed on public buildings. Disturbingly, the graffiti is made up of lines from forbidden works, subversive words from the voices of women. Suspicion has fallen on Widowland, the run-down slums where childless women over fifty – of no use to the Protectorate – have been banished. Before the Leader arrives for the Coronation ceremony of King Edward and Queen Wallis, Rose must infiltrate Widowland to find the source of this rebellion and ensure that it is quashed.