Eye of the Storm

Warning: This book is not suitable for children and young adults as it contains adult material as well as dealing with adult themes such as domestic abuse and violence illegitimacy suicide and the varying response to the death of loved ones. When his father and brother drown at sea nineteen-year-old Lewis Franklin is forced to grow up fast as he faces the new challenges and responsibilities of looking after his widowed mother Anna sister in law Alice and infant nephew Daniel. In London Lewis befriends retired merchant sea-man Abraham Abe Fleming and the two men forge a bond of friendship that matures through the years much as Lewis becomes a hero to his nephew Daniel as the boy grows to manhood. Lewis is forced to learn some of life's harsher lessons yet retains his dignity and spirit throughout. This is a tale of the enduring friendship between men and women as they suffer loss discover dark secrets and survive the harsh realities of life in the late Victorian era.