"Billy stood on the ridge and looked north, to where the dome of St. Paul’s rose over the city, surrounded by a forest of chimneys disgorging a steady stream of pale smoke into the darkening sky.
"The chimneys were calling to him. It was time to go back."
Plunged into the criminal underworld of Victorian London, Billy the chimney sweep knows he might fight or die. But with notorious gang leader Archie Miller closing in on him, every turn he takes only leads to more trouble. When the 'Poor Man's Earl' offers Billy a chance to exchange his gangland life for an education, Billy must decide if his pride is too high a price to pay, and whether turning on Archie will mean freedom or certain death.
A thrilling story of faith and survival based on the work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury.
Aimed at children aged 12+ but adults will enjoy this too. A real page-turner.
336 pages.
Out of the Smoke is in the following collections: