Far Above Rubies

by Elizabeth Jeffrey

Published 30 May 1996

When lovely Laura Chapman wakes up to find herself destitute in a London workhouse with all her belongings stolen, she cannot imagine how she will ever get over the shame. An orphan newly arrived from India, Laura is at the mercy of Jack Plant, the workhouse overseer, whose intentions are far from honourable.

Distraught and penniless, Laura is taken in by the poor by kindly Taylor family and, determined to pay her way, becomes a factory girl at Beresford's Silk Mill where she comes to the attention of Alex Beresford, the talented engineer son of the factory owner.

It begins to seem as if love and happiness are still possible for a girl whose life has been blighted by sorrow. Until the day Jack Plant appears to threaten her new-found security by revealing the secret she has tried so hard to keep.


After a London pub brawl, in which her beloved father is injured, thirteen-year-old Sally Stangate and her family must flee to begin a new life in the Essex village where he was born. But when they arrive, Sally has an uncanny feeling that her future in Wyford will be ill-starred. Her premonition proves to be well-founded; six years later, just after the outbreak of World War I, an old family secret destroys her hopes of marriage to Tim, the man she loves, and estranges her from her family.

Determined to put the past behind her, Sally goes to work in her Aunt Becca's antiques shop. When she falls in love with a young shipwright, Sam Bridges, she believes the chance of happiness is hers once more - but Sam's mother opposes the match and Sally is forced to watch her lover go off to war at the very moment when she needs him most.