What happens when your country wants you to be a secret agent-but all you want is a sense of agency? Widowed young in Victorian England, Ruby Thompson inherits her late husband's watch factory-and nothing else. Determined never to remarry, she defies convention and forges her own path. When society shuns her for running a business as a woman, Ruby boldly transforms the factory into a lodging house for working women-though the whispers call it something else entirely. When a London gang threatens her livelihood, Ruby and her girls turn to theft to survive-until she's caught by Harrison Hudson, a Pinkerton agent who offers her a cruel choice: prison, or espionage. Thrust into a web of deceit surrounding a plot to assassinate the Queen, Ruby must decide what loyalty, justice, and freedom truly mean. Set against the smoky canals and cobbled streets of Victorian Britain, Rich in historical detail and feminist intrigue, The Watchmaker's Widow is a powerful historical fiction novel about women reclaiming power in a world determined to silence them. Perfect for readers who enjoy Victorian spy thrillers, strong female leads, and the works of Hannah Dolby and Jennifer Chiaverini.
