The Castle Bay trilogy is set on the east Kent coast, with the first book, The Smuggler’s Secret, following the stories of two women – Meg and Carrie – from the same family, but living 100 years apart. Athough their life and times initially seem very different, they tread similar paths, both falling for men who pay scant regard to their wellbeing. Can the truth of what happened to Meg ever be revealed? And can Carrie forge a better future for herself?

The second book, The Reluctant Bride, takes up the story of Meg’s nephew, Thomas, and his enforced banishment from Castle Bay to the countryside nearby. Here, apprenticed to a miller, he becomes entangled with the wayard Isabel Cavendish, whose father despatches her to Regency Ramsgate to learn how to be a lady. When Isabel discovers he intends to marry her to a widower of his own age, she fights back with a daring plan of her own.

The third book in the series will be published in May 2025. All are available in ebook, paperback and on audio.

The Margate Maid trilogy follows the story of Molly, a dairymaid, from Georgian Kent to London and back, and the lifetime consequences of the secrets she keeps from her family. All three – A Maid’s Ruin (previously The Margate Maid), The Secret Child and The Lost Sister – are available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and on audio.

After a lifetime spent editing non-fiction, my journey to becoming a published author started in 2012, following a writing workshop at the Arvon centre in Ted Hughes’s old house in Yorkshire. I began to write Alice’s Secret (now A Family Secret) while I was there and went on to produce the three books* in The Mill Valley Girls series, set in west Yorkshire and covering a period from the 1850s to the present day. They are available in paperback, with audio versions released during 2024.

(*Ella’s Journey has been retitled as A Daughter’s Hope, and Sarah’s Story is now A Country Scandal.)

A move to east Kent, and the discovery of previously unknown family links to the area, gave me an idea for The Margate Maid trilogy. You can view a short video, filmed on location, about the inspiration behind the story below.

Order any of the books via your local bookshop, online retailers such as Waterstones, WH Smith, Hive or Bookshop.org or Amazon