Ellie has always been intrigued by stories about how families managed to survive in Victorian England. In that era there was such a divide between rich and poor; between those who struggled to feed themselves and find shelter so they wouldn’t die on freezing, filthy streets — and those who were born into a life of privilege.

This was also the beginning of the industrial age, and while some children suffered shocking conditions working in a factory or a mine for pitiful wages, others managed to fight their way out of poverty to some level of comfort in the middle classes. Some did very well.

These are the stories Ellie loves to tell: tales about people who refuse to give up, no matter what life throws at them.