Author Juliette Tomlinson introduces us to the unforgettable characters in her debut novel.

It was the year of 1864, and the great city of Manchester was Cottonopolis, rising with the sound of industry, and the boom of a hundred mills.

At the heart of its energies was John Rylands,  ‘the greatest merchant prince the world has ever seen’. This is the story of an empire built by a true Manchester man, given meaning and worth by the extraordinary woman who loved him.

Juliette Tomlinson has worked as a bookseller, and then in publishing. She lives in Stretford, Manchester, yards from Longford Park, which was a part of her childhood. The story will continue in a second book, Sunnyside.