Moss’s glorious female characters are fully formed and morally complex; in this novel, set in 19th century Manchester, they are both products of, and alienated from, their time and place. She seems fascinated by the consequences of parental influence, and is, unlike some novelists, capable of being passionate (or angry) about more than one thing at a time. Now someone just needs to convince her that male characters are worth writing with the same amount of depth (though heaven knows they’ve had enough time devoted to them by her colleagues already). A companion piece to the also-marvellous “Night Waking”.