the dresden finch Author:jessica stirling Sophy Richmond at 20 had beauty, breding and unpromising future. Her new step-mother's hostility drove her out into the world and gave her the opportunity to break away permanetly. Accompanied by her ambitious governess, Miss Frampton, Sophy began to se something of the world, never suspecting that an early indiscretion with a dashing young huss... more »ar might be the very thing her scheming governess needed to make her life miserable. Her nine month retreat fro the social scent did not, however, prevent a wealthy man fom proposing marriage, and sophy's life suddently seemed secure. From her comfortavle surroundings and cozy existence, Sophy was protected from the seamy backstreets of Victorian London where baby farming was a profitable venture and infants, cast aside by respectable folk, were brutally misreated. But when Miss Frampton's plot became evident, and idle gossip threatened to ruin Sophy's reputation, the young woman who had once cared only for life's delights was forced to examineher alternatives and make some fascinating choices« less