THE STORY SO FAR
1924. Former dressmaker’s assistant and aspiring novelist Nella is staying at the White House, having been invited by Rose. Also there is Rose’s brother Henry, who owns the house, and their friends Apollo and Leonora. A chance meeting with her sister Maggie and new baby gives Nella cause to rethink how genuine her friendship with this group is. A loss of confidence in her writing ability convinces her that her novel is rubbish, so when her manuscript goes missing, she shrugs it off. A fearful Henry is summoned to London by his father, a prominent judge. Next day, as Henry arrives back at the house, Nella discovers a letter from a literary agent offering to publish Henry’s novel. She realises the novel in question is the one she has written. Furious, she challenges Henry. As he attempts to snatch the letter from her, she pushes him and he tumbles backwards down the stairs.
It was damp and cold in the cell. Occasionally, a shaft of light would squeeze its way through the prison bars. But it wouldn’t stay long – and who could blame it? Nella, however, had no choice. This cell had been her home for a whole week now. It felt like a lifetime.
‘Men won’t get away with being bullies’
Every morning she awoke to the clanging of prison doors, the clinking of keys, and the cries and curses of her fellow inmates. Every morning she put on the same serge dress, white cap and apron, and picked at the same disgusting breakfast. And three times a day, she took
