The Young Widow Paperback

She has the money to live like a lady … but there are plenty who want to take it from her. When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?

Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself. But it's not that easy.

Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. He’s new to the area but seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour?

With newfound hope Ann dares to dream.

As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann learns of his past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds.


Set forty years before the start of VL McBeath’s historical family saga The Ambition & Destiny Series, The Young Widow is a standalone story that adds another dimension to this epic series.

Great Barr, Staffordshire. 27th December 1848


It had been a pleasant Christmas. One of the best, Ann would say, although she had to admit it hadn’t been without its problems. The joy on her grandson’s face when he learned that Mr Wetherby had proposed marriage to Mary, his mother, would warm her heart for years to come, although sadly it hadn’t had the same impression on the boy’s mother. No, her daughter-in-law, if she could still call her that, had been distracted when she’d arrived four days earlier and nothing had cheered her since.


Ann took a sip from the cup of tea cooling on the dining table and glanced across to Mary.


“You’re quiet this morning. Are you still thinking about the marriage proposal?”


Mary sighed and put her knitting down in front of her.

“I am. I thought I’d made my mind up last night, but now I’m not so sure. I want to feel happy about it but I can’t.”


“Don’t you think you’ll be happy if you accept?”


Mary’s eyes filled with tears. “How can I be? I’d be marrying him for all the wrong reasons.”


Ann pursed her lips. “Staying on your own won’t bring Charles back and you need to do what’s best for the children.”


“I know and I think Mr Wetherby will be good with them. That’s why it’s so hard. I just hope that if I say yes, it's the right decision.” Mary’s hands twisted together on her lap.


“I’m sure it will be. From what Martha’s said I believe he’s a lovely man who thinks the world of you, not to mention William and Mary-Ann. Men like that don’t come around very often. You should take the chance when you can.”


“It’s just that I can’t forget Charles…”


Ann turned around to check that no one was on the stairs behind her and then stood up to close the dining room door. “Can I tell you a story? Very few people know this, because they’ve no need to, but before I met Pa, I was a widow.”