The Dungeness Series - also featuring Ashford and Lydd
This series started in 2016 when Alice Tibbs set off to become a teacher at Dungeness school. Secrets of the Shingle has always been my best seller, and in 2018 it was followed by Stranger on the Point (my favourite!) where Alice's daughter becomes the main character as we move from late Victorian times to the 1920s. I continued with the series and published The Artist's Gift in 2019. This novel is set during WW2, and follows the next generation. It begins with the bombing of Lydd Church.
After a change of era while I wrote The Pendant Cross, I returned to this series - this time with a prequel. With a gap in the series, I am currently writing a second prequel.
At the moment, I recommend readers begin with Secrets of the Shingle.
Still Shining Bright
"I ain't got a home," Cora blurted out. "We were going to Tasmania, to have a better life with our own house and fruit trees. I've got nowhere to go now." And without giving the matter any thought, she continued, "I'll stay here. Right here at Dungeness. No point in going off and my husband not knowing where I am."
In the winter of 1873, a young woman and her daughter are brought ashore by lifeboat. The remote shingle headland is like nothing they have seen before and, with only the nightclothes they are wearing, they rely on the kindness of strangers. The British Inn welcomes them, and new friendships are formed while Cora must use her wit to survive in this remote settlement.
A prequel to Secrets of the Shingle, this novel takes the reader from the Dungeness peninsula to the market town of Ashford, Kent.
Reckless Choices
There was something a little reckless about Emily. Unpredictable. But never in her wildest imaginings would Cora have thought her daughter could stoop to such uninhibited behaviour as they now witnessed. There she was moving towards them at speed – skirts flowing – ankles and calves on display – perched up high on the crossbar of the bicycle!
A chance meeting on a train upsets Emily, while on the streets of Ashford someone lurks waiting to make trouble. As tensions brew within a close family, the young woman makes a rash choice.
Meanwhile, living in an unforgiving, desolate settlement on the Dungeness peninsular, a fisherman is in awe of the young woman he encounters.
A second prequel to Secrets of the Shingle.
Secrets of the Shingle
"It were a body, right there on the shingle."
Alice felt the skin on her throat tighten and her mouth went dry. Another body, just lying there to be found on the beach... or was it another? It could be the same one, just casually discarded.
As the nineteenth century draws to a close, Alice arrives at Dungeness to become teacher at the local school. She is expecting a seaside village with a promenade, sandy beaches and, at the very least, pavements. Instead, she finds herself on a desolate, windswept, shingle headland unlike any place she has ever been. All too soon, she stumbles upon a dying woman and is haunted by her inability to help her. Not knowing who to trust and trapped within the inhospitable landscape, Alice is determined to find out who the woman was and what had happened to her.
A story of fierce loyalties, sinister secrets and a young woman's growing maturity as she reviews her prejudices and learns to cope in her new environment.
This novel is predominantly set in Dungeness, Kent. The reader is also taken to the areas of Willesborough and Newtown in Ashford, at a time of rapid growth for the town.
Stranger on the Point
“Galloways this be. Close enough, but not Dungeness proper.”
“Galloways! Galloways Cottage?” Lily felt the tension release from her body. “That's exactly where I wanted to be.”
“You did?” The old hag shuffled towards Lily and peered up at her.
“Mary sent me. Mary from the teashop in Lydd.”
“Oh, she did, did she?” A wide toothless grin spread across and creased the leathery face. “She's a good girl is our Mary. A good girl.”
It is the 1920s and Lily sets off to discover the remote coastal village her mother once called home. But a wrong turning leads her to a lonely settlement, far from civilisation. A place where old customs are held sacred and, as the mists clear over the Dungeness Point, her arrival brings hope to the community.
A sequel to Secrets of the Shingle. The story of a young woman's struggle to fulfil her worth, as the shadows of WW1 live on.
The Artist's Gift
"A desperate scream rose to the rafters, reverberated off the leaded glass windows and flew towards the chancel, before being cut dead as the east end of the church was obliterated by the force of the bomb. Stone fell, glass shattered and wood splintered; then came silence."
Helen, a young war widow, travels to a wedding in Lydd. The small town near the Kent coast is on the front-line as Luftwaffe bombers regularly pass through the skies. From the parapet of the church tower, a look-out can only watch with terror, as a plane heads directly towards the church. A direct hit on the chancel leads to a death of a much loved family member, and for Helen a chance to start her life afresh.
Following the fortunes of Helen, her family and close friends, this novel takes readers from that fateful day in 1940 through to the end of WW2, and on to a family reunion in the late 1950s. Real wartime events are seen through the eyes of fictional characters in this sequel to Secrets of the Shingle and Stranger on the Point.
This series started in 2016 when Alice Tibbs set off to become a teacher at Dungeness school. Secrets of the Shingle has always been my best seller, and in 2018 it was followed by Stranger on the Point (my favourite!) where Alice's daughter becomes the main character as we move from late Victorian times to the 1920s. I continued with the series and published The Artist's Gift in 2019. This novel is set during WW2, and follows the next generation. It begins with the bombing of Lydd Church.
After a change of era while I wrote The Pendant Cross, I returned to this series - this time with a prequel. With a gap in the series, I am currently writing a second prequel.
At the moment, I recommend readers begin with Secrets of the Shingle.
Still Shining Bright
"I ain't got a home," Cora blurted out. "We were going to Tasmania, to have a better life with our own house and fruit trees. I've got nowhere to go now." And without giving the matter any thought, she continued, "I'll stay here. Right here at Dungeness. No point in going off and my husband not knowing where I am."
In the winter of 1873, a young woman and her daughter are brought ashore by lifeboat. The remote shingle headland is like nothing they have seen before and, with only the nightclothes they are wearing, they rely on the kindness of strangers. The British Inn welcomes them, and new friendships are formed while Cora must use her wit to survive in this remote settlement.
A prequel to Secrets of the Shingle, this novel takes the reader from the Dungeness peninsula to the market town of Ashford, Kent.
Reckless Choices
There was something a little reckless about Emily. Unpredictable. But never in her wildest imaginings would Cora have thought her daughter could stoop to such uninhibited behaviour as they now witnessed. There she was moving towards them at speed – skirts flowing – ankles and calves on display – perched up high on the crossbar of the bicycle!
A chance meeting on a train upsets Emily, while on the streets of Ashford someone lurks waiting to make trouble. As tensions brew within a close family, the young woman makes a rash choice.
Meanwhile, living in an unforgiving, desolate settlement on the Dungeness peninsular, a fisherman is in awe of the young woman he encounters.
A second prequel to Secrets of the Shingle.
Secrets of the Shingle
"It were a body, right there on the shingle."
Alice felt the skin on her throat tighten and her mouth went dry. Another body, just lying there to be found on the beach... or was it another? It could be the same one, just casually discarded.
As the nineteenth century draws to a close, Alice arrives at Dungeness to become teacher at the local school. She is expecting a seaside village with a promenade, sandy beaches and, at the very least, pavements. Instead, she finds herself on a desolate, windswept, shingle headland unlike any place she has ever been. All too soon, she stumbles upon a dying woman and is haunted by her inability to help her. Not knowing who to trust and trapped within the inhospitable landscape, Alice is determined to find out who the woman was and what had happened to her.
A story of fierce loyalties, sinister secrets and a young woman's growing maturity as she reviews her prejudices and learns to cope in her new environment.
This novel is predominantly set in Dungeness, Kent. The reader is also taken to the areas of Willesborough and Newtown in Ashford, at a time of rapid growth for the town.
Stranger on the Point
“Galloways this be. Close enough, but not Dungeness proper.”
“Galloways! Galloways Cottage?” Lily felt the tension release from her body. “That's exactly where I wanted to be.”
“You did?” The old hag shuffled towards Lily and peered up at her.
“Mary sent me. Mary from the teashop in Lydd.”
“Oh, she did, did she?” A wide toothless grin spread across and creased the leathery face. “She's a good girl is our Mary. A good girl.”
It is the 1920s and Lily sets off to discover the remote coastal village her mother once called home. But a wrong turning leads her to a lonely settlement, far from civilisation. A place where old customs are held sacred and, as the mists clear over the Dungeness Point, her arrival brings hope to the community.
A sequel to Secrets of the Shingle. The story of a young woman's struggle to fulfil her worth, as the shadows of WW1 live on.
The Artist's Gift
"A desperate scream rose to the rafters, reverberated off the leaded glass windows and flew towards the chancel, before being cut dead as the east end of the church was obliterated by the force of the bomb. Stone fell, glass shattered and wood splintered; then came silence."
Helen, a young war widow, travels to a wedding in Lydd. The small town near the Kent coast is on the front-line as Luftwaffe bombers regularly pass through the skies. From the parapet of the church tower, a look-out can only watch with terror, as a plane heads directly towards the church. A direct hit on the chancel leads to a death of a much loved family member, and for Helen a chance to start her life afresh.
Following the fortunes of Helen, her family and close friends, this novel takes readers from that fateful day in 1940 through to the end of WW2, and on to a family reunion in the late 1950s. Real wartime events are seen through the eyes of fictional characters in this sequel to Secrets of the Shingle and Stranger on the Point.