Paper and Rags — Morgan Wade

Paper and Rags follows the stories of many of the characters first introduced in Bottle and Glass, as they struggle to make lives for themselves in post-war Kingston, a time when civil unrest and political reform simmer. Young Jeremy Castor, forced into the Royal Navy by a press gang, is discharged and cast adrift. To survive and support his ailing mother, he must make difficult choices about how to earn a living. Along the way he meets three strong, beguiling women -- Amelia, Lilac, and Lenore -- each breaking from society's shackles in her own unique way. The four become entwined with the mysterious Dr. Scriven who has come to Kingston from England to escape his shameful past. Scriven decides that founding a newspaper is the only way of setting his personal record straight. In the face of a severe paper shortage, Jeremy and the others come together, sacrificing the very shirts from their backs, to make the paper that will see Scriven's truth in print. Even so, the eventual discovery of Scriven's secret and its publication in the local Gazette changes their lives forever.