{"product_id":"the-smugglers-secret","title":"The Smuggler's Secret","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Smuggler's Secret is a tour de force of historical imagination, a story with an enthralling plot, thick with the intertwining stories of richly drawn characters, and a brilliantly detailed portrait of the oppression of the poor by those who reaped the rewards of the British Empire. But most of all, this is a story of romance.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBorn into grinding poverty, ten-year-old Frederick Musgrave spent his childhood living by his wits. Agile in mind and body and never more so than when navigating his little boat across the swift-flowing waters of the Tyne between the busy seaports of North and South Shields. The shillings he picked up running messages and smuggled goods, evading the ever-watchful eyes of the customs agents, helped to feed his family amidst the endless battle for survival fought by so many in this year of 1843.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut one night a mission took this small runner to the house at The Towers, where madness had been known to lurk, and there he witnessed a scene of unremitting horror. His silence was bought and the tide of his life shifted. He gained the patronage of Miss Maggie Hewitt, the middle-aged sea captain’s daughter who was to play a major role in shaping Freddie’s life and fortunes as he grew to manhood.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut years later the madness at The Towers again threatens, and Freddie must once more rescue his hard-won happiness and security from cruel fate and escape the long shadow cast by Roderick Gallagher, whose power and influence threatened all who crossed his path.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Smuggler's Secret is one of Catherine Cookson’s most powerful and ingeniously devised novels, a tale rising to a suspenseful and exciting climax.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"unknown author","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48821122891945,"sku":"9780552177672","price":7.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/9518\/0962\/files\/9780552177672.webp?v=1789873270","url":"https:\/\/roseyravelstonbooks.com.au\/products\/the-smugglers-secret","provider":"RoseyRavelston Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}