Book
The Lonely Furrow
First published 1976
Henry Tallboys, eldest son of Godfrey and Sybilla, is tied to the practical work of keeping Knight’s Acre productive while the family’s fortunes remain precarious. Joanna Serriff, the daughter born to Tana, grows up at the estate with a valuable inheritance of jewels and an intense attachment to the land. Henry refuses to consume Joanna’s fortune simply to rescue the farm and instead sends her away to acquire the education and manners expected of a wealthy young woman.
Their divided loyalties unfold amid witchcraft accusations, corruption in church and local government, disputed inheritance and the shifting authority of Yorkist England. When Joanna becomes a ward of Edward IV, royal power enters directly into the family’s attempt to decide its own future. The trilogy ends by returning chivalric adventure to the furrow: survival depends less on heroic campaigning than on honest labour, legal status and the difficult negotiation between love and property.
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