PARADISE Park by Iris Gower is the climax to the Firebird saga, set among the clay potteries of South Wales.

Rhiannon, proud and spirited, is alone in the world after Bull Beynon, her one-time sweetheart, found a new love. From being a shanty-town woman among the railway navvies in Swansea, she wants to make a fresh start and a better life, and finds a position as a housekeeper to a railway engineer. But unforeseen circumstances force her back on the streets, where she faces destitution. At the entrance to the notorious Paradise Park Hotel, Rhiannon encounters Sal, young street girl whom she tries to rescue.

Her attempt ends in failure, Sal returns to her old life on the streets and Rhiannon is even more determined to become respectable. She obtains a post as maid to unhappy Janey Buchan, who takes a liking to Rhiannon and teaches her ladylike ways. But tragedy and unhappiness are never far away from Rhiannon's life, until eventually she is able to overcome her heartache and become a successful local businesswoman and owner of the Paradise Park Hotel. (Published by Bantam Press at £16.99).