To Die In A Distant Land

The first half of this novel is set in middle of the 19th century, in the growing industrial towns of central England, more commonly known as The Black Country (for its coal dependence) Many men work either in the iron manufactories or down the mine, but a young boy of eight, named Job Cash starts work on the narrow canals, the main transport system of its day. We watch young Job grow into a young man, and see how his family cope with the everyday problems of life such as mine disasters and outbreaks of smallpox and cholera, while body snatchers sneak into graveyards in the middle of the night.
To get himself started in business he is tempted into the brutal world of bare knuckle boxing and makes a reputation for himself. He starts his own business, and falls in love with a local beauty, but soon has problems from a rival boat company; and then a smallpox epidemic hits the town. Job’s personal and professional life then falls apart until he is offered a second chance with the industrialist Mr John Holden, who has made millions from salt production next to the Birmingham Canal.
In 1854, the Crimean War breaks out. Mr Holden’s daughters Rebecca and Lucy are going out to the Crimea to be companions to Rebecca’s husband, who is an army surgeon. Holden knows that this part of the world is a dangerous place to be and they will need someone who is tough enough to look after them, so he asks Job to go with them.
After experiencing the Battle of the Alma and the charge of the Light Brigade, the foursome settle down to life in the village of Kadekoi while the siege of Sebastopol is taking place.
During the siege, Lucy, who has always despised Job for his lowly background is abducted by a crooked trader, who is going to sell her to the highest bidder. Job rescues her, but she can’t decide whether her feelings for him are love or gratitude, so she decides to go and do some voluntary work alongside an old friend Florence Nightingale, who has been at the army hospital at Scutari for some months.
We now get an insight into the difficulties Florence Nightingale has with the arrogant intransigent upper echelons of the British Army. Lucy then becomes ill, and Florence writes to her sister in Kadekoi. Job takes a ship to Scutari and decides to take the woman he loves to the island of Malta to nurse her back to health. But will any of them survive and come back home?