Flames of Fortune

Lucy, the tavern wench born from the flames that destroyed her past, escapes from the slums of Restoration London into the household of the ageing merchant Thomas Armytage and his lovely young wife Elizabeth, and is caught up in the mysterious intrigues of Piers and Toby, two blades from the dissolute court of Charles II. A journey to France leads to a daring masquerade in which Lucy pits her wits against the ruthless Count Reichendorf, but it is in England amid the crackling inferno of the Great Fire that another child of fire is born and Lucy’s past is illuminated by the flames of the present. Moving between the alleys of Southwark in South London, to the rich interiors of a Cavalier household, and the glittering chambers of Whitehall, Lucy seeks to keep faith with Molly, the bawd who cherished her, and with Elizabeth, the gentlewoman who leans upon her strength. Always true to her own fiery nature, Lucy rises like a phoenix from the ashes of her past.