Ginton Abbey

Set on a Friday in May, 1903…

Lord Dickie has a rather odd way of dressing for his early morning strolls around the Ginton Estate. Her Ladyship has a few secrets, and a member of staff is plotting to blackmail her. The Head Butler is the epitome of what a true English butler should be, but his love for her Ladyship goes unnoticed. The buxom maid is a bit too free with her services, whether it’s with staff, trade or the postman… until she falls in love. The dog-ugly cook has unusual nighttime activities and her lumpy gravy is blinding, literally! Will the blackmailer be successful? Will her Ladyship requite the butler’s affections? Is anyone safe from the cook’s lumpy gravy?

Keeper of the Red Shawl

This romantic novel begins in the Victorian Era and is based on the eventful life of my grandmother, Frances. It tells the tale of the four men who helped or hindered her path to freedom. Fate was unkind to Frances, but throughout her life, she battled forward fighting convention and the class system.

The story starts when her well-to-do, but aged, parents marry her off at the age of 17 to Jack, a cold-hearted widower with a young son.

Respectfully she did as she was told but this was her first mistake. She became the brunt of his sarcasm and abuse in the bedroom.

Fortunately, Jack soon met with a suspicious end!

Then, along came a dashingly handsome James…

But wait, there’s someone else watching this particular saga unfold, patiently biding his time!

Louisa

Louisa is 15 and living a contented, happy life in London. The Second World War is threatening their peace of mind. Will they all have the strength to survive?

Love and Outrage

This is a story of a love that fights to survive during dangerous times and in violent places. Having fled Latvia to escape religious persecution, Libby Gardstein lives with her criminal brother in the East End of Edwardian London. She struggles to break free from her brother’s dominance to become a teacher of immigrant children.

Strong but quiet undercover police officer, Eddie Nething, works tirelessly to make London a safer place, driven forward by the cruel murder of his best friend and colleague. Eddie is assigned to infiltrate the gang of anarchists run by Libby’s brother.

Against all the odds, Libby and Eddie meet and fall in love. Eddie is torn between his duty as a policeman and his unexpected love for Libby. Libby is split between this new found love for Eddie and her instinctive concerns for her wayward brother.  The stakes are high. They could both be killed if discovered by the antagonists around them. For both Edward and Libby, it is a fight between love and duty.

Love in the Shadow of Mao

China, the epic Long March and Mao’s Revolution

A love story both historical and intimate peopled by fascinating characters

Julia Harrison, rich, beautiful and privileged, wife of a U.S. Congressman. What is she doing in Maoist China? Is she to be rescued or investigated?

Jen Chi-man, was born in the wilderness, orphaned by war, reared in the Red Army and sent to America to become a scientist.

He returns to a world he no longer knows.

Catherine Lee, a Chinese-American doctor from Brooklyn, imbued with a romantic love of the motherland she has never seen, longing to “serve the people”.

In their stories, we get glimpses of Mao, his power-hungry wife, foreign-educated Zhou Enlai and Madame Sun, revered widow of the founder of modern China, a committed Communist who lives in a mansion.

Alverston Park

In Alverston Park, author William Frank  gives a deep bow to Jane Austen with a story of love and societal boundaries. Helena Mowbray, a clergyman’s daughter, warns her two younger sisters about the impossibility of marrying nobility. Yet this does little to deter the trio of charismatic Fitzosborne brothers, sons of the Earl of Alverston, who find themselves captivated by the Mowbray sisters during the London social season.
Set against the opulent backdrop of Regency England, complete with grand balls, architectural splendour and society scandals, the narrative weaves in events like a secret newborn and a daring journey to Napoleon’s island prison in the South Atlantic. Through misadventures and tragedies, the tale explores the consequences of class prejudice and the elusive nature of happiness, reflecting issues still resonant in contemporary high society.

Velvet