By the time the events of Helen Dunmore’s novel take place, in the late eighteenth century, plans were already afoot for a bridge between Clifton, on the outskirts of Bristol, and the Leigh Woods of North Somerset. It would be another 70 years before Isambard Kingdom Brunel created his great suspension bridge, connecting the communities on either side of the River Avon. The bridge brought unexpected problems, as jumping from it to fall 200 feet to the waters below became a favoured method of suicide.