This is a nostalgic historical drama, about a girl called Nessie and her family and wider circle of acquaintances. We follow her trials and tribulations over the course of a few years, and we get a glimpse of life for the poorer members of the community and how the related to the rich. I did enjoy the story, but - bestseller?? I don't understand how this could be. The dialogue is unconvincing, the writing style is mediocre, and the characters are all completely good or bad - no shades of grey for this author, with the possible exception of the selfish little sister. Having said all that, although the 'good' characters were a little too good for my liking (especially Nessie, well on her way to sainthood!) the bad characters were fun. I especially liked lecherous Seth Grimshaw, the heartless slum landlord. In conclusion, although I quite enjoyed reading this book, I probably won't read any more by this writer.