This is a novel, set in Brighton Sussex, during the latter half of the nineteenth century. A fictional narrative is combined here, with factual evidence from my family history.
It is 1862 and Alfred Maurice Tyler is born into a lower-middle-class family, with a strong belief in God. However, his difficult birth gives rise to medical problems which plague him all his life. As he grows from a happy, loving child into a young man, failure seems to be the presiding factor in his life, eventually leading to despair. All Alfred wants, is to be able to make his parents proud. He decides to emigrate to Canada, believing he will find happiness in a new life and meets a man, William Trout, with whom he develops a strong friendship, despite their extremely different backgrounds.
Alfred and William succeed in their endeavours until events cause Alfred to return to England, where life takes a dreadful twist.
Could the secret, kept from his parents when he was young, be the catalyst for what befalls him?
