Books like The winter rose by Jennifer Donnelly

The story is set in the impoverished streets of East London at the turn of the twentieth century, a time when the city is still haunted by violence and crime. India Selwyn‑Jones, a newly graduated physician, and her fiancé, Liberal MP Freddie Lytton, work to shut down the area’s opium dens that harm the community. Their efforts put India in direct conflict with the ruling crime lord Sid Malone, who becomes obsessed with her. Despite their differences, India and Sid fall in love, each bearing the wound of a difficult past. Their romance complicates India’s reform agenda and draws the attention of rival criminal factions. After Sid is betrayed and forced to flee London, the people of the city believe him dead. India, pregnant and desperate, marries Freddie to provide a father for the child she shares with Sid. The story follows India, Sid, and Freddie as they confront love, sacrifice, and the rigor of the era’s politics and crime.

First publish date: 2006