The Dairymaid

Devon, England. 1815.Just because you know how it ends, doesn't mean you know her story...When fifteen-year old Annie Drewe is orphaned by the death of her father, her departing stepmother, Susannah, offers her some pithy advice about men:'Want a roof over your head come nightfall? Then break your back keeping a clean house. Want food in your mouth each day? Then toil at the stew-pot and keep him well fed. Don't want him straying too much? Then act like a harlot every...
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Devon, England. 1815.Just because you know how it ends, doesn't mean you know her story...When fifteen-year old Annie Drewe is orphaned by the death of her father, her departing stepmother, Susannah, offers her some pithy advice about men:'Want a roof over your head come nightfall? Then break your back keeping a clean house. Want food in your mouth each day? Then toil at the stew-pot and keep him well fed. Don't want him straying too much? Then act like a harlot every night and keep him contented.' Scorning Susannah's advice, Annie also ignores her stepmother's other observation that with her bold nature and 'ample charms' she need never be destitute. But when she is fortunate to find work on a small dairy farm, she doesn't realise how her dramatic looks and flirtatious nature are a dangerous combination and in failing to reject the unsolicited advances of her employer, she finds herself promptly dismissed. Despairing of the never-ending round of drudgery that dairy work seems to afford, Annie nevertheless clings to her dream of finding a 'decent' man to marry but when an unlikely friendship develops, the risky plan she hatches draws more than a little on the antics she saw her stepmother using to good effect. But when her scheme goes awry and she is once again forced into finding work, Annie begins to wonder whether there is some truth to Susannah's advice and so gambling that she was right, she sets about using her wiles to get what she wants. But when, finally, she meets just the sort of man that she once dreamt of marrying, his determination to resist her well-practised charms will force her to embark upon her most reckless gamble yet.