Hester Roon by Norah Lofts

Hester Roon by Norah Lofts

The Fleece Inn stood where the three roads joined--to London, to Norwich and to the sea. Its trade was prosperous, its

hospitality famous and its host, fat Job, was jolly and generous--to his guests.

To his servants Job was cruel and menacing and to Ellie Roon, the most menial servant at the Fleece, he was a figure of

terror. Ellie was used to being shouted at and bullied, but when her illegitimate daughter was born--in a rat-ridden attic of the

Fleece--she decided that Hester must have a different kind of life.

And so Hester Roon, equipped with little more than courage and a strong will, began her eventful progress in the harsh

world of 18th century England. After fleeing from the inn, she became involved in the London underworld. From there she

was to find herself a destiny far beyond her imaginings.

Norah Lofts was a well-known and well-liked historical novelist who was known for her accurate use of period detail. Lofts, who was born in Norfolk, England in 1904, published more than fifty works of fiction, nonfiction, and short stories over her half-century career, including The King's Pleasure and Here Was a Man, and was a bestselling author on both sides of the Atlantic.