<p>Life as a miner, or as a cotton spinner, is not for Austin. He has ambition. Negotiating his way through an inter-denominational marriage, he marries Emma, a non-Catholic. After leaving Farnworth, a small mill town on the edge of Bolton, Austin's career as a steam engineer takes the family on a journey through the cotton towns of early twentieth century Lancashire.<br>A dozen years later, they have three children. Annie, the eldest, and Thomas...