Annie Meade is shaped by her reading, and this period was truly a golden age for the English novel.

Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Cranford, Bleak House, Little Dorrit and Vanity Fair were all published between 1847–1857.

These heroines engaged with the world outside their houses, discovering they had the power to influence events despite their world being arranged by men.

India in 1857

The East India Company represented Great Britain overseas, India not yet being part of the British Empire.

The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was a response to both The Company’s greed and the British army’s insensitivity.

The coming of the train helped connect distant states together and slowly inspired a sense of national identity.

It could take up to three months to travel the 600 miles from Cawnpore to Calcutta.