Fortune by Katie Godman

1800, Bristol.
Jessica is widowed and finds her husband was in debt. After losing the family hotel, she faces destitution along with her teenage daughters until her new acquaintance, Captain Parnell, offers her a role of landlady at his boarding house while he is away with the navy.

Jessica’s youngest daughter, Amelia, becomes a companion to the frivolous Mrs Betsey Webster. It's not long before Amelia is caught up in Betsey's giddy world of parties in Bath and Brighton while two suitors: the friendly but illegitimate Lt Driscoll and his legitimate, wealthy half-brother, Charles Snowden, vie for her hand.

Lydia, the eldest daughter, yearns to help her mother and earn her keep. Had she been born a boy, she feels sure she could have trained as a surgeon...and she would be free to marry her best friend, Miss Thomas, the mixed race daughter of a local abolitionist.

Meanwhile, Jessica has established an increasingly affectionate correspondence with Captain Parnell. On his shore leave, Jessica and the captain grow ever closer, but can Jessica learn to love again after her husband's betrayal. Is the Captain all that he seems?

A tale of rebuilding life after loss and shaping your own destiny.