Catherine Cookson's The Cinder Path

After a foolish misunderstanding, young farmhand Arthur Benton kills Edward MacFell, who rules Moor Burn Farm with an iron fist. Despite trying to cover it up, Ginger Slater witnesses the whole scene.

Charlie and Victoria are married, but not happily. Soon after, Charlie is drafted into the Army as a private. His sergeant? Ginger Slater.

Amid the mud and chaos of the Western front, Charlie really earns his spurs, but a confrontation with a shell-shocked Ginger Slater ends in tragedy.