Shadow of Dungeon Wood

the long version

The year of 1812 saw the emergence of the Luddites, a secret movement to overthrow the tyrannical capitalists who made life a living hell for the workers in the woollen mills. The lives of the characters in this novel - rich, domineering millowner Josiah Denshaw, poor, peace-loving Huddersfield millworker Jess Drake and arch-manipulator Mellors, eloquent and vengeful - are as intricately interwoven as the strands of the wool they manufacture. Through their interplay, whether politically motivated or buffeted by fate, their families become involved in a floodtide of action which leads inevitably to bloodshed and murder. Through the eyes of the gentle, bewildered Jess Drake we see the swift unfolding of events where evil-doing exacts its own penalty and Jess is forced to see the consequences of his errors visited upon the women he loves. The shadow of vengeance lies heavy upon him, the shadow of Dungeon Wood.