To Hear a Nightingale — Charlotte Bingham

A saga of country life in America and Ireland in the 1950s follows the fortunes of Cassie McGann, brought up in smalltown America by a grandmother who despises her, her childhood is one of misery and rejection. Fleeing to New York she falls in love with handsome Irish racehorse trainer, Tyrone Rosse, and when he marries her and takes her back to Claremore, his tumbledown mansion in Ireland, it looks as if she has found happiness at last.

Passionately in love as she is, Cassie finds the all-male world of horses and racing rather lonely. There is much for her to learn, not least about the man she has married. Tyrone's success depends heavily on the whims of the rich owners, men - and women - who can be very demanding. And Cassie must learn to endure the enmity of one in particular, who comes out of her buried past determined to destroy her.

When tragedy strikes, it seems that Cassie must once again face rejection and lose her hard-won security. But although the chances of success are slim and the cost in personal happiness considerable, she will not give in, and fights against all odds to survive in a world closed against her.