I have been invited to give a talk at Yate Library on the 15th of June at 2.30 p.m. Tickets are £5.00 and include cake, tea or coffee.
I will be introducing the first book in the Orchard Cottage Hospital series which is set in the thirties and follows the life and loves of Doctor Frances Brakespeare – that’s a lady doctor in case you didn’t spot the ‘e’ in the name.
Having served as a VAD in the Great War, and lost her sweetheart to the guns of the Western Front she throws herself into becoming a doctor. Unfortunately she rebels against the male hierarchy and is dismissed at the same time as losing a roof above her head.
Faced with a bleak future she takes a job at a small cottage hospital in the town of Norton Dene – which is loosely based on the Radstock/Midsomer Norton area. It’s a fairly traditional place but Frances is determined to introduce the latest in medical progress – including a family planning clinic.
Everything should be straightforward but a mystery arises when she sees her beloved’s name engraved on the local war memorial. He’s not from the town so what is it doing there?
There are obstacles to be overcome before she is a fully accepted member of the town but finding Ralph’s name here makes her very determined that she will be.