The Hunger House

The garden became a private obsession, a distraction from the daily hardship and misery which characterized the activity of the workhouse. The idea of lush growth and fragrant blossoms filled Bridget's head, the polar opposite of all the workhouse embodied. She would create a balm for eyes accustomed to tragedy, ears that ached with laments and nostrils jaded by the pungent fumes of decay and sickness. A little corner of heaven stolen from the dark walls and dim interiors of the netherworld, its fragrance spreading through the closed spaces, challenging the dark. Bridget Hennigan returns to Ballina to take up a posting as Matron of the new Workhouse overlooking the town. Her challenges are many, a professional woman under the supervision of a male dominated Board of Guardians. She forges new friendships and alliances, questioning the prevailing culture of hardship and want. Events take an unsettling turn as the resident medical officer, Dr Whyte acts with impunity, destroying the lives of women in his wake. Only Bridget can stop him, but she must work alone, her actions at odds with her conservative morals and beliefs. Their worlds collide, the outcome both dangerous and unpredictable.