The Cooperage

Great Britain surges forward on a tide of empire and innovation, championed by the great and the good of the country. Undesirable and unsightly elements have no place in the Britain of the twentieth century.

Emily Downings has inherited her mother’s strength and her father’s speed along with their deafness. The family lives at a cooperage on the border of Deptford and Brockley.

Female coopers meet with disapproval from some, Deaf coopers from many, but a deaf woman with peculiar strength will surely draw attention from unwelcome quarters and it is only a matter of time before The Order of Merit come calling and Mrs. Downings will have to raise her hammer to defend her home.

The Cooperage is the second short story from The Peckham House for Invalids.

Available now.

Recommended for teens and over.

The Cooperage © 2012 Howard Hardiman and Sarah Gordon
Cover image by Julia Scheele