Rhoda Fleming — Volume 1

Set amid the rolling fields of Kent, the story opens on Queen Anne’s Farm, a sturdy red‑brick house wrapped in ivy and bordered by a moss‑covered wall. Mrs. Fleming tends a garden that bursts with tulips, dahlias and poppies, each flower reflecting her fierce devotion to beauty and her belief that a well‑kept plot can sustain a family. Her two daughters, the lively Dahlia and the thoughtful Rhoda, inherit their mother’s love of nature, their names echoing the blossoms that dominate the household.

Yet the idyll is tinged with whispers from the neighboring parish. Mrs. Fleming’s extravagant horticulture draws both admiration and criticism, especially as rumors of financial strain begin to surface. Determined to keep her children fed and her garden flourishing, she faces the uneasy balance between pride, practicality, and the judgments of a tight‑knit rural community—setting the stage for choices that will test the family’s resilience.