Orchard Cottage Hospital

A country town in need of a good doctor, but will they accept her as one of their own?

Somerset, March 1930

Born in the workhouse and adopted by a former suffragette, Frances Brakespeare was encouraged from an early age to be strong, independent and to pursue a career as a doctor. The tragic loss of the love of her life in the Great War propels Frances to commit to her one true vocation.

Rebelling against the unfair treatment of female doctors Frances is dismissed from her London post and things continue to take a turn for the worse when Izzy, her benefactress dies and Frances finds herself homeless.

With no employment or roof over her head, her future seems uncertain until she’s offered a residency at the Orchard Cottage Hospital in Norton Dene, Somerset, a town where quarrying and coal mining scar the land.

It’s a far cry from London and the town's narrow minds are not so welcoming of a young, female doctor, but she’s determined to win through.

At first sight the town seems quaintly old fashioned, a place where nothing much happens but there are secrets and sins bubbling beneath the surface plus a mystery she's determined to solve.