Charley Bates was an outsider. Always the third wheel to the Artful Dodger and Oliver Twist-s double-act in Fagin-s gang. Then he became the redeemed thief who managed to turn himself into -the merriest young grazier in the whole of Northamptonshire.- But would he remain on the straight and narrow or go back to his criminal ways? What he needed was a mission to keep himself honest. And then he got one: a chance to bring justice to bear on a villain from his past, Monks, the half-brother of Oliver Twist. Getting even would mean a trip from the Thames to the Mississippi and help from old friends to right the wrongs done by the -creature- as Charley thought of him.
Field Lane reflects a 19th century world filled with social injustice, slavery, drug abuse and Royal privilege. Its fictional characters become intertwined with real-life historical figures such as the Duchess of Kent (the mother of Queen Victoria), the scientist Michael Faraday and Sam Clemen
