The Deep and Secret Things

By: Ken Follett

Bound by family and belief. Separated by greed and ambition.

1853, South Wales. Helena Bowen, a young noblewoman, longs to study science, a wish that society denies her. When Helena first meets the Llewellyns, she knows little about their Quaker beliefs. The Llewellyns run a successful wheelmaking business, but despite their financial achievements, their religion calls for a life of simplicity, truth and equality between all. Lloyd Lewellyn, the owner's son, epitomises all these values and his forward way of thinking deeply impresses Helena.

But then she encounters Lloyd's cousin Johnnie, the beau of the clan, who - unlike Lloyd - is fiercely ambitious. His charming manner makes him irresistible to women and Helena also falls under his spell. But Johnnie is a risk taker. When a young teacher in the village falls pregnant with his child, and Johnnie makes an embarrassing and detrimental mistake in the company's accounts, he runs away to London, to start fresh and build the empire he's always longed for.

At first, all goes according to plan, and on his way up Johnnie's path crosses again with Helena's. But Johnnie's insatiable greed for lust and money is the cause for another, unspeakable scandal which may lead to his ultimate downfall.

The Deep and Secret Things tells the rise and fall of a young man and his legacy, set against the backdrop of the Victorian era, at a time of immense social and industrial change.©2027 Ken Follett (P)2027 Hodder & Stoughton Limited