Publisher's Synopsis
Set in Cumbria and covering the period from 1898 to the early twenties, this is the powerful saga of John Tallantire, first farm labourer, then coal miner, and his wife Emily. John's struggle to break free from the humiliating status of a 'hired man' is the theme of a novel which has been hailed as a classic of its kind - as meticulously detailed as a social document, as evocative as the writings of Hardy and Lawrence. First published in 1969, it was widely praised by critics and later adapted for a successful West End musical
