The Penny Box

A tale of the north-easter and the salt-weathered characters of the Norfolk coast, or the fiercely loyal community of Marram, the home of Adam, Seth and Joshua lifeboat. Hilary Rudd had a penny box - a Delph replica of a lifeboatman's head. An act of heroism gains a mysterious benefactor for her, who plans to make her the perfect woman - but life has other ways. There's the nine-pin tragedy and there's the firestorm of love and terror. Robert Penn, the recluse from the Martello Tower, and Major Coningsby and his henchman bring a reminder: 'Watch the wall ,my darling, while the gentlemen go by.' There's the jingling harness by night as the smugglers' ghosts walk again.