Black Country Orphan
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.72
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Penelope Freeman
-
By:
-
Annie Murray
About this listen
Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength of women, by the Sunday Times best-selling author Annie Murray.
The early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near Birmingham and centre of the world’s chain-making trade.
Lucy Butler, a young girl crippled by a cruel accident, lives with her two brothers and widowed mother, a chain-maker barely making ends meet. When tragedy strikes, the Butler family is separated and Lucy is taken in by Bertha Hipkiss, another impoverished chain maker, struggling to look after her own family.
Lucy, while feeling the loss of her own family, relies on the company of Bertha’s two sons, charming Clem and straight-laced John. Though clever at school, Lucy knows she must leave and earn her keep, working many hours in the backyard forge. The five women toiling side by side, inevitably have their own friendships and squabbles. But they’re united in their hatred of loathsome middleman Seth Dawson, who treats the women with contempt and keeps their pay punishingly low.
But by the 1910s, there is a movement stirring, as across the country workers begin unionising for their rights. For Lucy, Bertha and the women of Cradley Heath, the promise of a better life seems almost too much to hope for - and the fight may end up costing them everything....
©2021 Annie Murray (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International LimitedCritic reviews
"Just the right mix of mystery and nostalgia." (Birmingham Friends)
"This heart-warming story is a gripping read, full of drama, love and compassion." (Soldier Girl)
"This epic saga will have you gripped from start to finish." (Chocolate Girls)
Related to this topic
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Den of Vipers
- By: K.A. Knight
- Narrated by: Cornell Collins, Hollie Jackson
- Length: 19 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.
-
-
Shrek
- By Shemika Holmes on 02-25-21
By: K.A. Knight
-
The Last Letter
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Yarros
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Jennifer Stark
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beckett: If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart.
-
-
What in the actual f@#k!
- By Booklover876🇯🇲 on 07-26-19
By: Rebecca Yarros
-
Birthday Girl
- By: Penelope Douglas
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Jennifer Mack
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're not free to give into this. She's 19, and I'm 38. And I'm her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.
-
-
Serious perfection
- By Misty Walker on 08-09-18
By: Penelope Douglas
-
The Accidental Dating Experiment
- By: Lauren Blakely
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Jacob Morgan
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight years ago I fell into a secret summer fling with my best friend’s little sister before our lives went in different directions. Now, I’m the grumpy to Juliet’s sunshine on a popular dating podcast we host, and when a wealthy fan gives us a charming coastal cottage as the biggest thank you ever, we head to the town where I grew up to give it a makeover. And find the house has only one bed. Located under a mirrored ceiling.
-
-
The kind of Romance everyone needs in their collection!
- By M. Santos on 04-11-24
By: Lauren Blakely
-
Nocticadia
- By: Keri Lake
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stella Hunter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.
-
-
Good but a slight miss
- By Destinyreadsbooks on 01-17-24
By: Keri Lake
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Den of Vipers
- By: K.A. Knight
- Narrated by: Cornell Collins, Hollie Jackson
- Length: 19 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.
-
-
Shrek
- By Shemika Holmes on 02-25-21
By: K.A. Knight
-
The Last Letter
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Yarros
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Jennifer Stark
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beckett: If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart.
-
-
What in the actual f@#k!
- By Booklover876🇯🇲 on 07-26-19
By: Rebecca Yarros
-
Birthday Girl
- By: Penelope Douglas
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Jennifer Mack
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're not free to give into this. She's 19, and I'm 38. And I'm her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.
-
-
Serious perfection
- By Misty Walker on 08-09-18
By: Penelope Douglas
-
The Accidental Dating Experiment
- By: Lauren Blakely
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Jacob Morgan
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight years ago I fell into a secret summer fling with my best friend’s little sister before our lives went in different directions. Now, I’m the grumpy to Juliet’s sunshine on a popular dating podcast we host, and when a wealthy fan gives us a charming coastal cottage as the biggest thank you ever, we head to the town where I grew up to give it a makeover. And find the house has only one bed. Located under a mirrored ceiling.
-
-
The kind of Romance everyone needs in their collection!
- By M. Santos on 04-11-24
By: Lauren Blakely
-
Nocticadia
- By: Keri Lake
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stella Hunter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.
-
-
Good but a slight miss
- By Destinyreadsbooks on 01-17-24
By: Keri Lake