Following on from New Lanark Spinning New Lives, this is the second book in the New Lanark Trilogy, based on the true story of the birth of the New Lanark cotton mills, now a World Heritage Site in Scotland. Having lived for fifteen years under David Dale's benevolent management, the villagers greet the arrival of their new master, Robert Owen, with hostile anticipation. Owen is eager to create an example of his passionately held belief that factories could be managed without child labour, disease or distress to the workers.
With Britain struggling in a deep depression due to the war with France, failing harvests and rising social unrest, Owen encounters antagonism and obstacles at every turn. It is not long before the ripples of change reach Joe Scott and his family with far reaching consequences.