A young woman in a 19th-century Cheshire town, having been snubbed and discarded in marriage, does something truly radical.

When the family bank is in danger of a run, she pledges her whole private fortune to save it. But instead of merely underwriting it, in return she insists on running the bank herself, as a single woman, in defiance of all convention.

Margaret Oliphant's novel first published in 1883.

Sometimes called 'the feminist Trollope', Oliphant is an unjustly-neglected British writer of the 19th-century, famed for her perceptive, ironic psychology, and her strong female characters.

Dramatised in five parts by Kate Clanchy & Zena Forster - revealing a flawed and fascinating heroine, reborn for radio.

Margaret Oliphant ..... Penelope Wilton
William ..... Adam Nagaitis
Lady Ellen Vernon ..... Jasmine Hyde
Mr Rule ..... Philip Jackson
Hester Vernon ..... Lyndsey Marshal
Harry Sellon ..... Ben Crowe

Harp played by Ruth Faber.

Director: Jonquil Panting

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013. Show less