Grace

She answered a cry across the water and lost herself in the echo.

Longstone Lighthouse, 1838

Grace Darling wakens to the howl of wind screaming over stone and the sight of a ship smashed against the rocks. No stranger to the fury of the sea, she braves the raging waters, risking her life to save nine survivors.

Her valour captures the nation’s heart, and in the aftermath of her daring rescue, she is hailed as a heroine. Painted, praised and relentlessly pursued, Grace is swept out from the shadows of solitude and into the limelight. But fame brings its own tempest, and the lighthouse keeper’s daughter soon finds herself eclipsed by her own legend.

Grace is a haunting portrait of a modest young woman consumed by the voracious gaze of Victorian Britain.

© Helen Steadman 2025

Review from the Historical Novel Society

TBC