Another Twist in the Tale’ is a rip-roaring adventure set in the Victorian era. The ‘twist’ in the tale is given away right at the start and refers to a character rather than a plot device: what if Oliver Twist, that famous Dickensian orphan, had a twin sister? What would her story have been? Catherine Bruton’s newly-invented ode-to-Dickens explores just this idea.

The reader is immersed into Dickens’ London through the sights, smells, tastes and unique characters. There remains that dark, sinister quality we associate with his writing – summoning the feeling that you never know what dreadful thing may emerge from the shadows or how our heroine’s fate may suddenly be altered in the blink of an eye. The story highlights the plight of girls and women during the Victorian era and sets a feminist tone, as we see the prominent, colourful, female characters strive to overcome the disadvantages of their plights and find their place in a world where power so readily falls upon the men.