Runaway Widow

Runaway Widow is the third book in Dilly Court's six-part Rockwood Chronicles. When Patricia's husband dies suddenly, she is left penniless at twenty-four with nowhere to turn. She refuses to depend on her family's generosity or to go back to her childhood home, Rockwood Castle, and decides to make her own way.

Inspired by her mother's career as an opera singer, Patricia wins a minor part in a London theatre show. The wages are poor and her life is a long way from the luxury she once knew, so she begins singing in a local public house and on the streets to make ends meet. This brings her into contact with London's poor, and she does her best to help them.

But a dangerous figure from her family's past is lurking in the shadows, and before long Patricia finds herself fleeing London. Away from her family, she must discover whether she can keep her footing.