"The die was cast. There was no turning back now." The two authors of this book start out to achieve their goal of walking the length of Britain - to become "End to Enders." We are treated to a wonderful panorama of the British countryside but the authors are not simply walkers - they are explorers and commentators with a human touch. They analyse the characters they meet on the way and record the varied architecture and social culture of this country. There is not a page which lacks an interesting observation or anecdote. With total sincerity they reveal their own reactions to the challenge....

This is the story of Margaret Catchpole, born into a smugglers' world in Suffolk in the late 1700s. As the valued servant of a wealthy family and a friend of criminals, Margaret leads a double life that inevitably brings about her downfall, and she is sentenced to hang not once, but twice. But she escapes the gallows and is transported with other convicts to Australia.

A wonderful adventure story, Scapegallows takes inspiration from the life of the real Margaret Catchpole. A woman who lived by her wits, she was a slip-gibbet, a scapegallows.

The dazzling new novel, evoking the thrilling world of the Victorian carnival, from the Man Booker-shortlisted author of Jamrach's Menagerie