From the author of THE MIDWIFE'S TALE comes "The Maidservant and the Murderer," the startling story behind midwife Bridget Hodgson's arch nemesis, the murderous and malignant Rebecca Hooke

On an autumn day in 1620, young Rebecca Hey rode into York in the back of a farmer's wagon and started on the path that would eventually make her one of the most powerful women in the city. Rebecca was an ordinary country girl when she became John and Grace Hooke's maidservant—a little light-fingered, perhaps, but never malicious. In the Hookes' service, however, she finds herself caught between a vicious mistress and a rapacious master, with their quiet but kind son, Richard, the only benevolent face in view.

In Samuel Thomas' e-original short story, Rebecca recounts her escape from this desperate situation, and bears witness to the choices that have turned her from a naïve young woman into the ruthless Rebecca Hooke. The question she would ask the reader is simple, "What else would you have had me do?"

This story contains approximately 10,700 words, along with an extended excerpt for The Harlot's Tale, the second book in the series featuring midwife Bridget Hodgson.