The Chainmakers

About the Book

It is 1904 when an offer of work as a model proves to be the catalyst for change for seventeen-year-old Anna Gibson. Anxious to escape poverty, embrace adventure, and see the world, Anna agrees to pose for budding painter, Robert Nicholson, and to accompany him to an artist’s colony in Brittany. Robert’s betrayal leads Anna to make a tragic marriage of convenience to her childhood sweetheart, Clancy. In the immigrant community of downtown New York, they struggle to survive during uncertain times, but it is not long before they find success, as the owners of a chain of restaurants. But Prohibition brings changes, and Anna’s decisions involve her in a gangland feud that threatens her family and friends in a frightening web of intrigue and violence. With more questions than answers, Anna wonders if true love really exists and whether it is possible to befriend lawbreakers without getting hurt. Set against a background which moves from the blistering heat and grinding poverty of the chainshops of the Black Country, to the elegant lounges of New York, this compelling love story charts the struggles of a young woman as she attempts to forge a new life from the remnants and far-reaching consequences of betrayal and obsession.

About the Author

Helen Spring was born in the Black Country in the industrial Midlands of England. After a successful business career, Helen decided to concentrate on writing fiction. She is the author of Strands of Gold and of Memories of the Curlew, and has written a sequel to The Chainmakers entitled Blood Relatives. Helen currently resides in Great Britain.