London 1849. The capital city is living in fear. Cholera is everywhere. Eminent MP, Sir Charles Cooper decides it is too risky for his younger daughter, the strangely beautiful and troubled Harriet, and sends her - but not her beloved sister Mary - to the countryside.
Rusholme is a world away from London, full of extraordinary relations: Harriet's cousin Edward and his plans for a new life in New Zealand; Aunt Lucretia, reliant on afternoon wine and laudanum; the formidable Lady Kingdom and her two eligible, unobtainable sons. Rusholme, however, can offer only temporary respite to Harriet, who longs to return to her sister.
By the author of 'The Actresses' and 'A Dangerous Vine', 'The Trespass' is historical fiction at its most gripping, stretching from the dark side of Victorian London to the optimism and energy of the early New Zealand settlements.
