THE ORPHAN'S DREAM

By Dilly Court

Synopsis

Mirabel Cutler was raised by her father, but when he dies suddenly, she finds herself cast out on the street by her ruthless stepmother. She is taken to a place of refuge by charismatic sea captain, Jack Starke. The safe haven turns out to be a house of ill-repute, but Mirabel is determined to make the best of her life...

Sample Player

Narrator	Annie Aldington
Length	12hrs
Catalogue No.	11585
Publisher	Magna Story Sound; 2015

Other audiobooks by Dilly Court

THE BEST OF DAUGHTERS

Despite her privileged upbringing, Daisy Lennox has always longed to make something of her life. She is drawn to the suffragette movement, but when her father faces ruin they are forced to move to the country and Daisy’s first duty is to her family.

THE BUTTON BOX

There was a time when the Carter sisters’ father was their hero. Now he’s a drunk who’s gambled away everything they had and it's on Clara's shoulders to save the four sisters from destitution. When a mysterious benefactor seems to offer an escape, Clara realizes too late that it comes at a terrible price…

THE CHRISTMAS ROSE

Rose Munday is on the way back to the city she was born in, but expecting to be met by her sweetheart, she is left alone on the docks, surrounded by whistles and scornful glances. How could Max have abandoned her? With no money left, Rose must go to work. Finding herself a position as a typist, Rose’s future begins to take shape. But London is a treacherous place for a young woman, and what initially seemed a brave decision, might just be a dangerous one…

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING

The winter of 1867: Daisy Marshall, secretly engaged to her master's son, finds herself jilted at the altar. Heartbroken, she flees to Little Creek, but the village is poverty-stricken, suffering under a cruel Lord of the manor. Determined to help, Daisy makes new friends – but also dangerous new enemies, who threaten to destroy everything she’s built. Can Daisy save the village and find happiness in time for Christmas?

CINDERELLA SISTER

Lily Larkin is the youngest of six, and with their father dead and their mother a stranger to them, she must stay at home and keep house whilst her elder siblings go out to work. As she goes about her daily chores, her head is full of dreams. And she longs for the day she can have a life of her own.

THE CONSTANT HEART

Rosina May has wanted for little in life - until her father's feud with a fellow bargeman threatens to destroy everything. To save them all, Rosina agrees to marry Harry, the son of a wealthy merchant. But a chance encounter with a handsome river pirate has turned her head and she longs to meet him again.

THE COUNTRY BRIDE

Summer, Little Creek 1879. For most of her life, Judy Begg has been a loyal servant at Creek Manor and to Jack Fox, its future lord. But just as their childhood friendship blossoms into a secret engagement he abandons her to join his brother overseas. Devastated, Judy is nonetheless determined to make the best of her life. But when the ghosts of her past resurface, can she find the courage to do what's right for her, as well as her family? If she does, it could be the start of her greatest adventure…

THE DOLLMAKER'S DAUGHTERS

For Ruby and Rosetta Capretti life in the slums of the East End holds little promise. Rosetta is desperate to work in the music hall, while Ruby has always longed to train as a nurse. But when they meet handsome Jonas Crowe, little do they know how much one man will affect both their lives for ever.

FORTUNE'S DAUGHTER

Rockwood was home, and she would do anything she could to stop it being stolen from them. Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, headstrong Rosalind Carey has no choice but to take charge of her younger brothers and sister in Devonshire’s grand Rockwood Castle. But their once much-loved home is crumbling like the family that lives within it. Living hand to mouth and desperate to provide for the estate that depends on them, the Carey family are one debt away from ruin. Until the day comes when the dashing Piers Blanchard appears on their doorstep from Cornwall, claiming he is Rosalind’s distant cousin and that Rockwood Castle is his. Piers says he wants to help pay off the family’s debts. But how can Rosalind be sure he isn’t out to take what is his and leave them all homeless? Only a closely guarded secret will convince Rosalind she can trust Piers to protect her family - and her fragile heart. Book one in the series.

THE LADY'S MAID

Despite differences in their circumstances, Kate and Josie have been friends since childhood. But their past binds them together in ways they must never know. A chance meeting forces Kate and Josie to confront a truth that turns both their worlds upside down and threatens to destroy their friendship forever...

A LOVING FAMILY

Eleven-year-old Stella Barry is forced into service in a country house outside London. When she returns home one Sunday, she discovers her family have been thrown out of their lodgings, and no one knows where they have gone. Years later, when circumstances compel her to flee, she is determined to find out what happened to them.

THE MISTLETOE SELLER

Abandoned on a doorstep in Angel Lane, Angel Winter survives the harsh streets by scratching a living selling mistletoe. But she will never sell the one treasure - a gold and ruby ring - that could feed her for a month, because it could hold the key to the secrets of her past…

A MOTHER'S SECRET

Seventeen-year-old Belinda Phillips falls in love with a handsome Anglo-Indian officer and discovers that she is pregnant. Facing disgrace and ruin she has no option other than to accept an arranged marriage with a middle-aged widower, knowing she must keep the secret of her child's birth for ever.

A MOTHER'S TRUST

Phoebe Giamatti lives with her lively Italian family in the heart of London's East End. Despite her widowed English mother Annie's feckless ways, Phoebe is fiercely protective of her. When Annie falls dangerously ill, Phoebe has little choice but to turn to the man she holds responsible for all her family's troubles....

NETTIE'S SECRET

London, 1875. Thanks to her hapless father, Nettie Carroll is sewing night and day to keep food on the table. Her gullible father has trusted the wrong man again, and he’s convinced that their only hope lies across the English Channel in France. Nettie has little but her dreams left to lose. But she has a secret, and it’s one with the power to save them. Can she find the courage to trust in herself and pave the way for a brighter future?

RAG AND BONE CHRISTMAS

Paradise Row, London. December 1865. Snow is falling fast and Sally Suggs is working tirelessly to bring in enough money to keep bread on the table. Her father, a skilled rag-and-bone man, has fallen ill and now Sally has taken up his trade. But this is a man’s world and competition is fierce. With no one to protect them, London’s underbelly of black-market traders circle closer. Sally needs to find help in the most unexpected places if they are to survive…

THE RAGGED HEIRESS

An unnamed girl lies ill in hospital and two rough-speaking individuals claim that she is their sister Lucy. But she can remember nothing of the events that brought her here. As her memory gradually returns, she realises that she is really Lucetta Froy, the daughter of a prosperous importer, and she has been kidnapped..

RAGGED ROSE

Rose is keeping a secret… Too scared to ask her father for help, it’s down to her to keep her brother from the hangman’s noose. But when Rose’s father discovers that his children have disgraced his name he turns them onto the street. With the fate of her family in her hands, Rose has to make a terrible choice, even if it means putting herself in danger..

THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS

East-End London, 1858. For Katherine Martin, arriving back in London after years away, the city is far crueller than she remembers. Her eyes opened to the plight of London's poor, Kate is determined to do what she can to help - even if it means defying her parents. In secret, she opens a soup kitchen. But there is a world of criminals within London's poorest alleys. Catching the notice of Harry Trader and his gang, Kate is out of her depth. Until she begins to discover that her true enemies might not be who she thought....

THE RIVER MAID

London, 1854: Twenty-year-old Essie Chapman lives with her father in poverty stricken Limehouse, working on the river as a boatman. Then, one night, she must transport a mysterious man from a foreign ship to the banks of the Thames, a man who ends up renting a room in Essie’s house, identifying himself only as ‘Raven’. When curiosity gets the better of her, Essie follows him and finds herself on a ship bound for the penal colonies in Australia.

THE SUMMER MAIDEN

When Carrie Manning’s father dies her mother, Esther, is heartbroken and leaves London to convalesce. It is down to Carrie to take charge of the shipping company that her father has left behind. But the company is in dire straits and Carrie’s journey is as unpredictable as the waters that link rival shipping companies. But will her determination be enough to preserve the legacy of her family’s name?

SUNDAY'S CHILD

Left on the steps of an orphanage when she was just days old, Nancy Sunday was brought up in hardship - until the kindly Rosalind Carey took her in. Now eighteen years old, Nancy is an adopted member of the Carey family. But she can't help wondering who her parents really were...When Nancy is sent away to finishing school, she finds herself in the midst of London society. There she meets Freddie Ashton - kind and warm-hearted, he might just be the man of Nancy's dreams. But she knows his wealthy parents would never let him marry a penniless foundling.And she has also caught the eye of another man - the charming and dangerous Gervase North, who has reasons of his own for discovering Nancy's parentage.Will Nancy ever find where she truly belongs?

THE SWAN MAID

As a chambermaid at one of London’s busiest inns, Lottie Lane is too worn out to even dream of a better life. Until she nurses an injured soldier back from the dead, and suddenly everything changes. But when tragedy strikes, Lottie is alone once more and in dire need of a miracle . . .

A VILLAGE SCANDAL

It’s spring in Little Creek, and after their hasty marriage the Christmas before, Daisy Marshall is finally marrying dashing Jay Fox properly, in front of the whole village. But then, on the evening of their wedding, Jay disappears. Daisy doesn’t know if Jay is dead or alive, if she’s his wife or his widow. But the secret of Jay's disappearance is more scandalous than she could have ever imagined....

THE WORKHOUSE GIRL

When her mother dies in childbirth, eight-year-old Sarah is forced to enter the notorious St Giles and St George’s Workhouse. But the independent-minded Sarah soon falls foul of the workhouse master, Trigg, and his cruel wife.