Siren Song

Star’s End, Lanchester

Fifteen-year-old Juana Casson, the unloved daughter of a stern farmer and his long-gone gypsy bride, finds her solace in the companionship of Peter Mount, the nephew of a wealthy man, even as rumours surround the truth of her doubtful parentage.

Henry Langton, the clergyman of Star’s End, has sought to lift Juana out of her daily hardship by giving her tuition with the upper-class boy, introducing her to a life far beyond that which her father expected for her.

Soon Juana falls in love with Peter Mount, her playmate and only friend, and they spend their days together – until Clare Winter, Peter’s sophisticated cousin, comes to stay.

Clare represents everything Juana fears – the town life which Peter will surely one day desert her for, and the well-bred young women who will steal his heart and with whom Juana cannot hope to compete.

When Juana begins to blossom into a beautiful young woman, Peter takes notice, and so do the rest of the local boys.

And Clare sees in the gypsy girl an unexpected rival, and, as she grows jealous, wants to take Peter away from Juana.

Juana finds herself caught in a tangle of romances and heartbreaks as she tries to reconcile herself with her wild, uncertain origins and the impossible love which she harbours for Peter.

‘Siren Song’ is a compellingly rich historical story of the romance and despair of a country girl’s struggle for happiness.

Adelaide Q Roby’s ambition as a child was to ‘write a book with hard covers’ and during her childhood she wrote several plays featuring herself and her younger brothers in a series of adventures. Later one of her adult plays was on the point of being produced at a Liverpool theatre when war broke out and it was shelved. As well as ‘Siren Song’, she is the author of ‘The Pindars’, ‘White Harvest’ and ‘Sea Urchin’.

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