When the beautiful and flirtatious Eleanor Wentworth is sent away from London in 1870 for her scandalous behaviour, she arrives, angry and rebellious, in Victoria, a town that falls far below her expectations of society. Soon, however, she is befriended by Celia Turner, the freethinking young wife of a conservative minister, and unlikely though it seems, they become lifelong friends. When Eleanor meets the fascinating judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, the first chief justice of BC, life in the colony suddenly becomes much more attractive. Discover life in vibrant, late-nineteenth century Victoria and meet the characters who helped build the province's rich history.

Marlyn Horsdal is a publisher, editor and writer. In 1984, she co-founded Horsdal & Schubart Publishing, and ran the company until it sold in 2002. She was born in Ottawa and educated at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and the London School of Economics, in London, england. She taught in Ghana as a CUSO volunteer and started a non-profit called Educating Girls in Africa, a program that provides scholarships to girls at St. Louis Secondary School in Kumasi, Ghana. All royalties from the sale of Sweetness from Ashes will be donated to this cause. Marlyn lives on Salt Spring Island, BC. Sweetness from Ashes is her first novel.

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An engaging portrait of colonial Victoria and Gold Rush-era Cariboo. —Gulf Islands Driftwood

This is one for those who like a bit of fiction woven in with their history . . . The Judge and the Lady provides as complete a fictional portrait of the era and the place as one can hope to find. —January Magazine