Self-development manual

Novel
Two mixed race babies are born a century apart. Three women struggling with issues of prejudice and betrayal.
The Hatmaker's Secret follows the story of one woman whose whole sense of self depends upon keeping her secret; of another who is confused about her own identity; and of a third whose marriage is threatened by the mystery of her baby's origins. Can they overcome their experience to find forgiveness, trust and a way forward?

Novel
Alfie, a fifty-something artist, has assisted his wife's suicide and seeks a quiet life on Dartmoor to come to terms with this, but his peace is shattered when he meets twenty-something Esther, who is escaping a troubled life in London and working at the local pub.

Francesca Fairweather has never lived up to the extrovert image of her copper-coloured hair. Escaping a difficult mother and a disastrous love affair to become a student in 1960s Bristol, she makes friends of Verity, Dale and Morag. But their presence is not to be relied upon, and she continues to lurch from crisis to crisis. Her Aunt Goldie, her friend Zelda and her father each come to her rescue, but are not always there when she needs them most.
In this coming-of-age novel, we join Fran on her journey of self-discovery. She is tested by loss and grief, by her strange marriage and by the secrets revealed when her mother dies.
Will she ever find the father of her twins, maintain her independence and make a new life in Cornwall?

When Henrietta finds herself excluded from seeing her grandchildren, she decides to write to them to explain their Afro-Caribbean origins in slavery.
She tells the story of her childhood in Bermuda, of marrying a British soldier, bringing up six children in Gibraltar and moving to England on her husband’s retirement from the army.
Writing the letters reveals unexpected and challenging truths about herself and her family, which give her food for reflection.
Do her grandchildren ever receive the letters? And if so, how true a picture of their grandmother and family do they paint?

Hungary, 1956. Russian tanks brutally crush the revolution against the Communist regime. Sisters Katalin and Marika escape Budapest with their family and settle in London.

However, the past is not so easily left behind. Their father is a wanted man, and the sisters’ relationship hangs in the balance. Their futures are shaped by loss. For Katalin, this means the failure of her ambition and a devastating discovery; for Marika, an equally heart-breaking experience.

Caught between their Hungarian heritage and their new lives in Britain, the sisters struggle to reconnect. Family secrets are exposed, jeopardising Katalin’s and Marika’s identities.

Can their relationship survive war, division and grief?

It’s 1845. Eight-year old James Thorne is growing up in the New Forest. His life takes him far from his roots - first to the workhouse, next as a seaman in the Royal Navy, then to the respectable confines of urban life in 19th century Portsmouth. But he never relinquishes his joy in the Forest and the yearning for the presence of trees in his life.

This family saga traces James’s path from boy to grandfather – a story of light and shade, love and loss. For some, blackthorn is an emblem of bad luck. And in a “blackthorn winter”, spring blossom is blighted by snow and ice. But for others – especially his childhood sweetheart, Kitty – the white flowers bursting from black branches are a symbol of hope…

A friendship. A murder. A life that will never be the same.

The year is 1955, the location picturesque Devon.
In a house by the River Dart, schoolgirl Josephine Kennedy posts invitations to her twelfth birthday party – a party that never takes place.
Horrific violence is committed that night in the family home, leaving all of its occupants dead.
Based on a disturbing real-life crime, this compelling story explores Josephine’s fate through the prism of friends and family - the victims and survivors who unwittingly influenced the events that led up to the tragedy.
Josephine’s best friend, Susan, is haunted by the secrets of the birthday house. Can she ever find a way of making peace with the past?