Conflict of Interest

by Aileen Armitage, Aileen Quigley, Erica Lindley

Yorkshire, 1812. The Industrial Revolution is sweeping the country, stirring up the Luddites, a movement set up to overthrow the tyrannical capitalists who are making life harsh for the workers in the woollen mills. In the town of Huddersfield, the lives of those involved with the mill are as intricately interwoven as the strands of wool they manufacture. There is the rich, domineering mill-owner Josiah Denshaw; the poor, peace-loving mill-worker Jess Drake, and the arch-manipulator Mellors, who is both eloquent and vengeful. Through their interplay, whether politically motivated or buffeted by fate, the three men and their families become involved in a floodtide of action that leads, with horrible inevitability, to bloodshed and murder. But evil-doing exacts its own penalty, and Jess is soon forced to see the consequences of his errors visited upon the woman he loves . .

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Aka Aileen Quigley, Ruth Fabian, Erica Lindley.

Aileen Armitage was brought up in Huddersfield where her father's family have lived for the past 400 years. Aileen has made use of their story, and that of the town, in her well-known 'Hawksmoor' novels - the series that has earned her a reputation as 'Yorkshire's Catherine Cookson'. After gaining a BA in modern languages, Aileen taught English for ten years. When failing sight obliged her to give up her teaching career, Aileen began writing and had many magazine articles and short stories published before she turned to longer fiction. She has since been widely published in the UK and in the USA. Aileen also lectures on novel writing for writers' seminars and is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio. She is a frequent guest speaker, especially since winning UK Woman of the Year award in 1988. In 2002 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt degree for her contribution to literature. Aileen has four grown-up children from her first marriage. She is now happily remarried to the writer Deric Longden.