The Dark Side of Pleasure — Margaret Thomson Davis

A powerful story of passion and rivalry set in early Victorian Glasgow, The Dark Side of Pleasure chronicles the rise and fall of two very different families, the Camerons - wealthy, respectable and secure, and the Gunnets - struggling to survive amid the desperate poverty of the slums. Alfred Cameron, the owner of a prosperous coaching firm, his wife Felicity and their beautiful daughter Augusta enjoy a life of privilege and luxury, surrounded by servants and the trappings of success. But the family firm is in danger - threatened by the encroaching railways, and undermined from within by one of their own coachmen, Luther Gunnet - a ruthlessly ambitious man who will do anything to raise his family from the slums. One disastrous, snow-swept night, a series of tragic events begins that will shatter the comfortable world of the Camerons, and bring about a spectacular reversal of fortune none of them could have imagined in their wildest dreams.