Deborah Ballou

The Highwayman: a Novel Inspired by Alfred Noyes' Poem Deborah Ballou

Dashing and arrogant highwayman, Jeremy Knox, survives his bloody encounter with King George's soldiers . . . barely. The prison theft of his clothes and the unexpected help of a hero-worshipping boy conspire in his favor, and another man swings in his place. The world thinks him dead, and dead he must stay if he's to escape a future hanging. Jeremy's will to recover from his injuries is second only to his desire for revenge on his betrayer. He spurns the kindness of new friends, choosing instead to rely on his former distrust of others to get by. Soon his new life, so dearly bought with the self-sacrifice of his pretty sweetheart, Bess, seems empty and purposeless. A series of misadventures leaves his life hanging in the balance once again. If he's to survive, he must realize before it's too late that the love of a practical young woman and the trust of a family he never thought he'd have are far more precious treasures than the ones he once stole along the Yorkshire roads. The Highwayman takes the reader not only on a spirited ride through eighteenth century England but on one man's journey toward reclamation and renewal.