HOPES AND FEARS

An Unspoken Christmas Story

I am beyond delighted to reveal the fabulous cover for my work in progress, the Unspoken Christmas Novella, Hopes and Fears.

As usual, the cover has been designed by the wonderfully talented, Jane Dixon Smith of JD Smith Design

The story is set at Christmas in 1940 where Alice is at the farm with her young daughter, Martha and her two evacuee children, Harriet and Stephen who are both excited at the prospect of receiving a visit from their mother, Rose, who still lives in blitz ravaged London.

Alice arranges a lift for Rose with Godfrey, her lawyer and sometimes lover who works at the War Office and is coming back to the town on Christmas Eve, but when she fails to hear from Rose to confirm the details at the arranged time, she becomes increasingly worried. When Godfrey reports that he has paid a visit to Rose’s house but found only piles of rubble, the alarm bells begin to ring. Alice’s best friend, Amy is despatched to London to investigate Rose’s disappearance. Her detective work takes her through bombed out streets, and burned out factories to hospital wards and elderly relative’s houses whilst trying to avoid the attentions of Terry, the amorous and amoral ARP warden.

Meanwhile Alice is trying to keep the children’s spirits up  as she attempts to make Christmas as normal as possible despite the swarms of German bombers flying over the farm to make their nightly raids on London.

Due for release November 2021