‘one of my favourite authors ‘ ANNIE ELLIOTT, Left on the Shelf Book Blog
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Featured Books: the first, the latest, the free
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Sugar and Snails
Shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize, my debut novel is about a woman who felt a misfit as a child and took the opportunity to reinvent herself in her teens. But solving one problem created another and she’s lived with a secret at the heart of her identity for thirty years, afraid she’ll lose…
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Lyrics for the Loved Ones
A care home in lockdown isn’t the best place to mark a big birthday, but Matty is determined to celebrate her centenary in style. But hidden histories come to haunt her: the child she was forced to give up for adoption as a young woman and her ancestors’ involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. ‘smartly…
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Stolen Summers
All she has left is her sanity. Will the asylum take that from her too? In 1939, Matilda is admitted to Ghyllside hospital, cut off from family and friends. Not quite twenty, and forced to give up her baby for adoption, she feels battered by the cruel regime. Twenty-five years later, the rules have relaxed,…
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I never intended to write a series
When readers asked about a follow-up to my debut novel, Sugar and Snails, I was surprised. Although I had thoughts about how my character, Diana, might have developed since 2004 when the novel is set, I didn’t plan to explore them in fiction. My perspective turned on its head shortly after I submitted my third…
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Matilda Windsor on Bookable Space podcast
I’m interviewed by Yvonne Battle-Fenton for her podcast, Bookable Space, about my novel Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home. I also read three extracts, one from each of my main characters’ points of view. Yvonne asked me about the inspiration for this novel and what it was like drawing on familiar settings: Cumbria where I grew…
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I’m interviewed on Hannah’s Bookshelf
What a delight to be interviewed again on Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM. This time the focus is on Lyrics for the Loved Ones, the follow-up to Matilda Windsor is Coming Home, which Hannah and I discussed on the programme in August 2021. Hannah was curious about what it was like to return to…
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An evocative and uplifting journey
I’m truly honoured that book blogger Yvonne Gill has taken such care with her review of Lyrics for the Loved Ones. Not only has she beautifully articulated her response to the novel – both her reservations and appreciation – she’s shared some of her favourite quotes from the text. I’m delighted that, overall, she found…
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Can fiction help save the planet?
With a spate of extreme weather events over recent months, we’re all becoming more aware of the climate crisis. However, you might not have heard of Earth Day, established in 1970 to draw attention to the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability. It’s marked each year on April 22. This year’s theme is the planet…
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Let’s celebrate Mother Language Day
In 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day. It’s an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge and celebrate language diversity and to resist the suppression of minority languages. Have you heard of it? I might not have done if I hadn’t visited a book fair in Dhaka, Bangladesh, almost four decades…
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Books can be your saviour at the festive dining table
Christmas is the time when everyone is welcome around the dining table. Isn’t that a lovely sentiment? Yet it can be stressful for some. The frazzled cook battling lumpy gravy when the meal is already three hours late. The young couple stuffed to bursting point after eating two dinners, one with each set of parents.…