Tuesday 24 September 2024

Bath Under Fire - The Inspiration Behind The Home Front Nurses

 

Bath Under Fire

The inspiration that made me decide to write a series set in Bath during WWII came from a friend who asked if I knew much about the Baedeker raids that happened over three days in the city during April 1942. I knew nothing! I’d never even heard about them, but my need to learn more was instantaneous and the start of my research for my new series, The Home Front Nurses began.

I read books and immersed myself in everything I could learn online, I also went to my local archive centre and found lots of amazing facts and stories from letters and diaries of people who lived through the raids. However, one of the most useful aspects of my research occurred during this year’s annual Bath Festival when I signed up for the Bath Blitz Walking Tour. I was so looking forward to it as I had very little to no idea of which areas of the city had been affected by the bombing (my mum went on to tell me my nan’s house, who lived in Bath at the time, was flattened on the second night of the raids!).

The tour guide – whose name I forgot to note down, much to my shame – proved himself a fountain of knowledge and enthusiasm who walked with us for two hours and talking about many different spots in Bath. I saw bomb damage I’d never noticed before, evidence of demolition and rebuilding and sadly learned the names of entire families who were killed outright when their homes suffered direct hits. The guide also told us stories of the industrial area situated along part of the River Avon that runs through Bath which was a slum area at the time. A bomb hit the gasworks here, but never exploded – if it had, it would have been catastrophic.

An unexploded bomb also landed in the grassed area in the centre of The Circus, a beautiful circle of Georgian residential houses. The bomb was later disturbed by the clearing work of firemen and volunteers and killed at least one person, injuring many others. It would have been a lot worse if the bomb had exploded when it was dropped. Other buildings close to The Circus were also affected. An upper-class hotel at the time, The Regina, took a direct hit, killing all the people taking shelter in the basement except for two, the force of the blast setting fire to the Assembly Rooms across the road which was nearly completely gutted. The Assembly Rooms were Bath’s premier venue for balls and soirees and was visited by famous writers such Charles Dickens and Jane Austen during their time staying (and writing) in Bath.

If you are interested in learning more about the Bath Blitz, I cannot recommend the walking tour enough – here is a link to the website detailing the next available walks (and other things that might interest you): https://www.bathguides.org.uk/summer-walks-calendar2024/

A memorial listing all those who were lost stands at the main entrance way to Victoria Park which can be found in the centre of the city off of Gay Street and near Queen Square…

Rachel x

Here's the blurb & buy link for The Home Front Nurses - out now!

September 1941, Bath – three friends are about to find that some of the biggest battles are to be found on the home front…

As war rages and brave soldiers returning home from the frontline need nurses more than ever, fiercely proud redhead Sylvia Roberts is determined to help in any way she can. In spite of her mother’s belief she isn’t good enough, Sylvia believes that becoming a home front nurse is her calling.

Together with the two friends she makes on her first day in the job – Freda and Veronica – she knows she can help save lives. And, as the devastation of war shows no signs of ceasing, their work becomes ever more vital.

Then Sylvia’s life is thrown into the path of a man who might just be able to capture her heart. Even though he is somebody who everyone – except her best friends – seems prejudiced against. Can love really conquer all, in times of war?

One thing she knows is that – in the dangerous days that will follow – she and her friends will all need to support each other right to the end…

The Home Front Nurses is a gripping, uplifting story of unbreakable bonds of friendship in times of strife and heartbreak.

BUY: https://mybook.to/homefrontsocial

Friday 13 September 2024

Victorian York, Yorkshire.

Coney Street is featured in a few of my novels, mainly The Tobacconist's Wife, as the fictional tobacconist's shop is on Coney Street situated just out of shot on the photo below. It is easy to imagine my main character, Thea, walking along the cobbles.


 Coney Street, York, UK. circa 1860.
Characters in my other books have walked this street, such as Caroline in The Winter Widow, and Annabelle in The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl.
Historical photos like these really help historical authors to visualise the settings in their books. They can imagine the characters strolling the cobbles, shopping, going for walks, or hiding from those seeking to find them.


A lot of the slum areas of York have been demolished, but 'Yards' like the one above is where the poor of the city lived. The York slums feature in my books, especially The Slum Angel, Aurora's Pride, The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl and The Winter Widow.

To learn more about my books, please visit my website: http://www.annemariebrear.com





Thursday 12 September 2024

New Release!

 My latest book, Whispers of Spring, is available in Kindle and paperback.

I really hope those of you who have read book 1 will enjoy the continuing story of Caroline and her best friend, Trixie.
When all is lost, the hand of friendship is everything…
Seasons of Change Series
Book 1 The Winter Widow
Book 2 Whispers of Spring - new release!

Wednesday 24 April 2024

Coming soon!

 Whispers of Spring released August 22nd 2024!

https://mybook.to/WhispersofSpring 

sequel to The Winter Widow

When all is lost, the hand of friendship is everything…

https://mybook.to/TheWinterWidow




New book! The Dock Girl's Shame

 New book!

The Dock Girl's Shame is now out. Book two in The Waterfront Women Series.

A broken heart, a shameful secret…

Wakefield, Yorkshire 1871

Loretta Chambers has spent her life working at her father’s boatyard down at the docks. She’s tried hard to keep the business afloat, but with the railways taking trade away every day, Lorrie fears for the worst.

The arrival of handsome Italian, Matteo Falcone brings a brief glimmer of hope and a yearning inside Lorrie for another life, away from the filthy grime of the dockside. But despite her feelings for Matteo, she could never travel to Italy with him, and leave her father alone.

But one reckless, impetuous moment leaves Lorrie with a secret she will struggle to hide. And when tragedy strikes at the boatyard, Lorrie is left feeling more alone than ever before.

Always a dutiful daughter, Lorrie now carries a shame that could ruin her life forever…

The Waterfront Lass (Book 1)

The Dock Girl’s Shame (Book 2)

A broken heart, a shameful secret.

https://mybook.to/TheDockGirlsShame



Friday 5 January 2024

New Release!

 

The Winter Widow is out now!

When all is lost, the hand of friendship is everything…

New Release 2 Jan 2024!

#historicalfiction #bookaddicts #readers #bookcommunity #familysaga #booklovers

https://mybook.to/TheWinterWidow




Tuesday 6 June 2023

New release!

 Publication Day! πŸ₯³

Thank you to all who pre-ordered my newest release, The Waterfront Lass. 😁
Meg might be poor, but she is proud and spirited and will strive to keep her family together! Set in Victorian Yorkshire.

Sunday 11 September 2022

The Soldier's Daughter released!

 



In The Soldier’s Daughter, Evie lives close to the made-up village of Lylston, which I located north of the real market town of Bingley and set between the higher villages of Micklethwaite and East Morton, leading up to the Ilkley Moor area. 

Like many towns in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bingley prospered during the Industrial Revolution. The Bingley section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was completed in 1774, linking the town with Skipton, and Bradford via the Bradford Canal. The canal passes through the town centre and ascends the side of the valley via the Bingley Five Rise and Bingley Three Rise Locks. Several woollen and worsted mills were built and people migrated from the surrounding countryside to work in them. Alexander’s mill is located in the valley between the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire.

Map

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This map is what I used to set Lylston Village, Bellingham Hall and Alexander’s mill in comparison to where Bingley is situated. Evie’s home (and Mr Lund’s farm) is just north of Lylston village.

A riding track Evie would have used over the moors.

A picture containing grass, sky, outdoor, field

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A view from the moors overlooking the valley. Something Evie would have seen when she left her home.

A glimpse of Bingley in the valley.

 

In Victorian times, Bingley was a hive of industry and a main route through the Aire Valley. Below are two photos I used as inspiration for when Evie is in the town, especially when she secretly meets Hal down the lane beside the pub and Alexander sees her but she denies it when he confronts her.

 A horse and buggy on a street

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The Soldier's Daughter

Yorkshire 1860

With the heat of their beloved India far behind them, Evie Davenport and her widowed British Army officer father, are starting a new life in England. But Evie is struggling. With her dearest mother gone, Yorkshire with its cold, damp countryside and strict societal rules makes Evie feel suffocated and alone.
Her friendship with Sophie Bellingham, the gently reared daughter of a wealthy rail baron, is Evie’s only comfort. Until the arrival of local cotton mill owner, Alexander Lucas.
Newly returned from America, it is expected Alexander will marry and finally make England his home. And Sophie with her family connections and polite manners is the obvious choice.
But when Alexander meets Evie, a simmering passion ignites between them. Evie, with her rebellious spirit is like no other woman Alex has ever met, but to reject Sophie for Evie would cause a scandal and devastate everyone Evie loves.
Evie knows she must do her duty. But in doing so faces the unbearable future of being without the man she loves.

Available now on Amazon: http://getbook.at/thesoldiersdaughter

Tuesday 26 April 2022

2000 Reviews

 

Over 2000 reviews in 3 months of release!

Thank you to those who take the time to review any book and especially my books! LOL

The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl

“The writing is vivid and gripping!”

Annabelle can’t hide forever from the wealthy Hartley family, but can she give up the baby she loves?

Amazon: http://getbook.at/OrphanPeacockShawl




Wednesday 20 April 2022

Hello Lovely Readers!


It is always sad to say goodbye to friends, and so it was for me when I said tara to The Mersey Mothers of Reckoner's Row. Set in 1953, Liverpool. The year of the Queen's Coronation is also the year local accountant, Evie Kilgaren, is hoping her summer wedding to Danny Harris will go ahead. 

Or will a new rival firm finally drive Danny's haulage business into the ground and destroy everything Evie and Danny have tirelessly worked for? 

Although, this is not the only cloud hanging over Reckoner's Row, A killer is at large in the dockside streets. Evie and her trainee hairstylist sister, Lucy, could be in terrible danger when Ada Harris gets alarming news from her estranged husband, Bert, who has damning news of Evie's mother's killer. 

Bert has the evidence in a box, hidden for many years. But does Ada have the courage to open it when Bert breathes his last? Find out in the third of the Reckoner's Row trilogy: The Mersey Mothers.




Number One on Publication Day!
This long-awaited brand new novel, is the answer everybody has been waiting for in the brilliant, gritty Reckoner's Row series, #TheMerseyMothers
Start reading now!

Thursday 27 January 2022

historical diaries and journals

 

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I collect Victorian diaries and journals, written mainly by women who have arrived in Australia after leaving England, but also by women born in colonial Australia. These diaries are brilliant when I’m writing a story set in colonial Australia and they give me an insight to how they lived and what was happening in the world around them at that time. From their personal entries, we can learn what was important to them, their daily routine, their views and opinions. They can also lift some of those myths we in the modern world tend to think as true.

Below are some pages from a selected few of my diaries, which may show why I adore them so much.

This page is from The Letters of Rachel Henning. A genteel lady who left England and ventured to Colonial Australia to join her brother who was farming out there. It’s a fascinating account of her life and full of details about those times.

I also have a few diaries, or collections of letters written during the First World War, which is another favourite era for me to write.

Below is an example from the book, Unknown Warriors, The Letters of Kate Luard, RRC and BAR Nursing Sister in France 1914-1918.

Kate Luard is one of those unsung heroines of the war. A dedicated nursing sister who went to the front line to give aid to the wounded. Her letters are fascinating, harrowing, tragic but filled with such devotion and commitment.

Below is a page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. A lovely diary of a naturalist’s world in 1906 written by English lady, Edith Holden.

Get your copy of The Orphan in the Peacock shawl below:

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