The Wheel Of Fortune

Spinning the Threads of Fate

The Wheel of Fortune opens in the windswept Cornish village of Starbridge, where newly ordained vicar Julian Randall arrives to shepherd his flock through a time of profound change. Under the ancient church spire, Julian discovers that tradition and progress are locked in a delicate dance: parishioners cling to age-old rituals even as the world beyond their cliffs advances. When he encounters the independent schoolmistress Margaret Leigh—whose eager mind and compassionate heart draw him into late-night debates on theology and science—Julian’s quiet certainties begin to unravel, setting fate’s great wheel into motion.

Faith Tested by Temptation

As the seasons turn, Starbridge’s hidden undercurrents emerge. Julian must confront his own inner doubts when his childhood friend, the charismatic lay preacher Edward Heathcote, returns from the city with promises of radical renewal. Their brotherhood fractures under the strain of conflicting visions: Edward’s fiery zeal for reform clashes with Julian’s gentle call for unity. Meanwhile, Margaret wrestles with a secret of her own—an impossible choice that could fracture both church and heart. In the glow of candlelit vestries and among the hush of pilgrimage crowds, every conviction is weighed against the allure of temptation.

Redemption’s Turning Point

Amid a summer of pilgrimage and a harvest festival that gathers the whole community, alliances shift and betrayals surface. When a long-buried scandal threatens Starbridge’s very soul, Julian and Margaret must forge an unlikely alliance to heal ancient wounds. Their journey through grief and forgiveness leads to a climactic moment beneath the church’s rose window, where the interplay of light and shadow mirrors the characters’ own transformations. As the great wheel completes its turn, each soul discovers that true redemption lies not in perfection, but in the courage to begin again.

. Susan Howatch is a celebrated British author known for her insightful examinations of faith, morality, and human relationships, weaving profound theological inquiry into sweeping narratives that resonate across generations.