Poverty. Olivia Copley is a feral child who has been starved of affection. But it is Miss Trent, her new governess, who has known real hunger and hardship. Humiliation. Hesley Mexton is committed to saving his failing coal mine and safeguarding his grandson's future - however ruthless he needs to be. Retaliation. As Olivia matures it seems that even her friends are conspiring to rob her of happiness. But they underestimate her courage - and her determination to fight for what she wants. The House of Help follows the misfortunes of two women, as they endeavour to escape the lives forced up on them in a harsh nineteenth-century Yorkshire.