Molly Bowes
16th August 1819 is etched on the nation's memory: the Peterloo Massacre was a national outrage. For Molly Bowes, the event brings personal tragedy: her baby daughter vanishes. Molly’s search for her stolen baby takes her to Tyneside at a time of transformation and political ferment. Torn between the powerful Bowes family of Gibside and the radical Chartist activities of Winlaton ironworkers, her personal quest is set against the backdrop of dramatic upheaval in the history of the North East.
Readers of My Name is Eleanor will be shocked to learn that the abusive Stoney Bowes was able to go on to father five more children in debtors' prison. Molly had been one of those children. When her father died, Molly set out to make her own way in the world, determined to escape the life that had befallen her mother. But Fate had other plans....
Portrait Gallery - the real people who feature in Molly's story