{"product_id":"hearth-hammer-matt-hancock-9798254887201","title":"Hearth \u0026 Hammer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA sweeping, emotionally rich family saga rooted in truth, tenderness, and the quiet heroism of ordinary lives.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLittle Budworth, 1844.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a quiet Cheshire village shaped by hedgerows, hard work, and whispered secrets, young Betsy Hodkinson steps into service at the grand Edgerton household-unaware that a single choice, and a silence she will keep for the rest of her life, will alter the path of generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDismissed in disgrace and returning home pregnant, Betsy makes the most devastating and courageous decision of her life: to entrust her newborn son, \u003cb\u003eLewis\u003c\/b\u003e, to the care of relatives. What follows is an extraordinary journey through the next century as Lewis grows from a \"nurse child\" into a man whose life becomes the backbone of a family story forged in railway yards, cottage kitchens, wartime grief, and the stubborn hope that carries working people through the hardest days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSpanning from the 1840s to the aftermath of the Second World War\u003c\/b\u003e, this novel traces: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA hidden paternity that reshapes a lineage\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe fierce, unspoken love between mothers and children\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe realities of Victorian service and industrial labour\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe quiet dignity of those who build their lives from the ground up\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA family rising from heartbreak, hardship, and history itself\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough births and burials, loyalty and loss, marriages and migrations, \u003ci\u003ethis richly layered saga reveals how the smallest decisions can echo across generations-and how love endures in the spaces where history forgets to look.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor readers of Catherine Cookson, Elizabeth Strout, and sweeping British family epics\u003c\/b\u003e, this is the unforgettable story of a boy born in scandal who becomes the heart of a dynasty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Matt Hancock\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798254887201\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/30\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 194\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.59lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.41d","brand":"Matt Hancock","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49172960444671,"sku":"9798254887201","price":11.87,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/hearth-hammer-matt-hancock-9798254887201","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}