Henrietta Street

de J.D. Oswald

How do you face your future if your past was a lie? 1780, a time of the American colonies almost lost, stirrings of industrial revolution, challenges to social norms. In a hamlet in Devon, Eve Martin watches helplessly as a fire destroys nearby Knowle Manor, the home of the Crosse family. The family decamps to their London house on Henrietta Street near Covent Garden, and Eve is invited to stay. From there she encounters John Stuart, a freed slave, now living and working in London. As secrets are gradually revealed, Eve and the Crosse family struggle with past burdens and future decisions. Inspired by the lives of historical figures John Stuart, an anti-slavery campaigner, and Richard Crosse, a miniature portrait painter, the novel explores questions of identity and self-fulfilment, the ties of love and family, and the repercussions of slavery.