Nest of sorrows.

Kate Murray's father had never forgiven her for being born a girl. Her elder sister, Judith, he had accepted - after all, she was a pretty child and the next one would be a boy. But when Kate arrived, scrawny, red-haired, under-weight, he was told there would be no more children, no son and heir, and from that moment his hatred for his younger child was born.

Kate, growing up in a world of constant rejection, seeing the way her Lancashire 'respectable poor' family tried to hide the cracks of a bad and violent marriage, determined to find a life - a world - where she was loved, was successful - where people were proud of her.

It took several years, several astounding and unusual developments, and a great deal of courage before Kate became the woman she wanted to be - successful, warm, forgiving, and able to give the love she had so lacked in her own life.