The Cast Iron Man — Michael Legat

From an early age Edward Harcourt knew that he was expected to devote his life to his late father's silk-making business. Failing this, the only other option open to him was to join his 'Uncle' Richard in Norfolk and specialise in brocade. Neither choice appealed - but what did interest him was the mystery surrounding this 'Uncle' Richard. When the long-hidden truth finally emerged, Edward fled in horror from the certain knowledge of his parentage, and found himself in London ready to start a new life. Desperate to distance himself from his family's industry, he opted for work in the manufacture of cast iron fireplaces and curios. There he found considerable success - and an escape from his mother's suffocating grasp. Set in the last years of the nineteenth century The Cast Iron Man continues the turbulent saga of the Harcourt and Goodwin families first introduced in The Silk Maker.