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Author of The Papermaker's Daughter
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Writing in the genre historical fiction, I have completed my debut novel, The Papermaker's Daughter, a dual-protagonist family saga.
At the close of the 19th century, against the backdrop of Dover’s White Cliffs, two women, separated by decades, are bound by secrets of love and betrayal: Sarah, searching for her roots, and Elizabeth, sunk in the ruin of her choices. Sarah has never belonged in opulent Buckland Manor. Raised as a charity case by wealthy widow and paper-mill owner, Mrs Kesby, she lives in luxury but is starved of affection, and can summon no love for her father, the mill overseer. Both her father and her guardian keep her in ignorance of her mother, who died in childbirth, and she is convinced they are hiding a dark secret. In defiance of them, she marries Edwin, a dockworker with nothing but calloused hands and a kind heart. Thrust into the gritty world of the working class, she endures poverty and hardship, but giving birth to a daughter spurs her on to discover her roots. It is her daughter’s birthright, and Sarah will never feel whole and happy until she uncovers the truth. A generation earlier, Elizabeth, trapped in a loveless union poisoned by her husband’s alcohol-fuelled cruelty, makes a desperate choice to escape his abuse, setting in motion a chain of events ending in murder. Each clue Sarah digs up shatters her relationship with her father, threatens her marriage, and confronts her with a family secret more devastating than she imagined. The evidence she finds—a torn steamship ticket, a bequest from an unknown aunt, the remains of a diary, and a letter from beyond the grave—combine to reveal the shocking truth of her parentage. To find peace, she must confront the monster who stole her identity. With a unique cliffside setting, The Papermaker's Daughter explores the power of motherhood, the ugliness of domestic abuse, the corrosiveness of family secrets, and the healing nature of truth. It will appeal to saga fans everywhere. To read the beginning of the story click the tab WRITING. If you'd like more information, please get in touch below. |
