I have three stand-alone novels. They are featured here in order of publication. A Place Called Hope was the first novel I wrote, but not the first printed. It has had a massive rewrite since those early days and now has a beautiful cover with artwork by Phillippa Goddard from New Romney.
What the Monk Didn't See was first seen as a mini series in a local magazine in 2016. It was then written as a full novel and published in 2017.
But First Maintain the Wall was published in 2018, and I am considering writing a sequel for this book. The cover art is by Zoe Beardsley from Greatstone.
A Place Called Hope
"At last he spoke in a whisper and warned her that no living soul should be out past nightfall on the first of July. It was a night for witches, ghosts and things we could not imagine. They would not take kindly to intruders."
A desolate settlement is home to three young women who tell the stories of their lives. Anna is curious to discover the secrets of The Marsh and doesn't listen to the storytellers warnings. Jessica disapproves of her frivolous cousin; but can she resist temptation? Christen feels trapped by the bleak marsh and longs to escape.
The remains of a tiny church stand in the countryside, not far from the town of New Romney. The church once served a parish known as Hope. By 1589, there were no longer enough people in the area to justify using the church and the parish was joined with that of New Romney. This novel tells the fictional story of some of the last families that lived at Hope during the last decades of the sixteenth century.
What the Monk Didn't See
The year is 1287 and yet another storm has hit the Kent coast. The town of Romney is under threat and its people battle to save their homes and livelihoods. A travelling monk, whose quest is to record the lives of people living in coastal towns, sets out to watch the storm from the church tower. From his vantage point, the monk believes he can see all that happens in Romney that night. But as the storm ravages the town and its fortunes are changed forever, what didn't the monk see?
But First Maintain the Wall
As the spring tide reached new heights it slapped upon fine cracks and, easing its way into the core of the structure, licked upon hawthorn faggots which had lain dry and dormant for decades. Wood flexed and the salt-water took its chance to penetrate further into the seawall.
Vibrations shook the village as parts of the wall quivered and fell. Clay-clad banks opened up from within, exposing the centuries-old framework of stakes and faggots, and a low rumble echoed throughout the vulnerable settlement.
On the night the seawall breaches, a young man lies injured, unable to continue his journey through the village. Subsequent events force him to stay in Dymchurch, an outsider struggling to gain respect and a sense of belonging. A tentative friendship is forged with a young woman, born locally, yet not fully accepted and seeking answers to her past.
In her fourth Romney Marsh novel, Emma Batten takes readers to 18th century Dymchurch. A place where newcomers are unwelcome, illicit trading goes virtually unchallenged and villagers live under the shadow of the great seawall.
What the Monk Didn't See was first seen as a mini series in a local magazine in 2016. It was then written as a full novel and published in 2017.
But First Maintain the Wall was published in 2018, and I am considering writing a sequel for this book. The cover art is by Zoe Beardsley from Greatstone.
A Place Called Hope
"At last he spoke in a whisper and warned her that no living soul should be out past nightfall on the first of July. It was a night for witches, ghosts and things we could not imagine. They would not take kindly to intruders."
A desolate settlement is home to three young women who tell the stories of their lives. Anna is curious to discover the secrets of The Marsh and doesn't listen to the storytellers warnings. Jessica disapproves of her frivolous cousin; but can she resist temptation? Christen feels trapped by the bleak marsh and longs to escape.
The remains of a tiny church stand in the countryside, not far from the town of New Romney. The church once served a parish known as Hope. By 1589, there were no longer enough people in the area to justify using the church and the parish was joined with that of New Romney. This novel tells the fictional story of some of the last families that lived at Hope during the last decades of the sixteenth century.
What the Monk Didn't See
The year is 1287 and yet another storm has hit the Kent coast. The town of Romney is under threat and its people battle to save their homes and livelihoods. A travelling monk, whose quest is to record the lives of people living in coastal towns, sets out to watch the storm from the church tower. From his vantage point, the monk believes he can see all that happens in Romney that night. But as the storm ravages the town and its fortunes are changed forever, what didn't the monk see?
But First Maintain the Wall
As the spring tide reached new heights it slapped upon fine cracks and, easing its way into the core of the structure, licked upon hawthorn faggots which had lain dry and dormant for decades. Wood flexed and the salt-water took its chance to penetrate further into the seawall.
Vibrations shook the village as parts of the wall quivered and fell. Clay-clad banks opened up from within, exposing the centuries-old framework of stakes and faggots, and a low rumble echoed throughout the vulnerable settlement.
On the night the seawall breaches, a young man lies injured, unable to continue his journey through the village. Subsequent events force him to stay in Dymchurch, an outsider struggling to gain respect and a sense of belonging. A tentative friendship is forged with a young woman, born locally, yet not fully accepted and seeking answers to her past.
In her fourth Romney Marsh novel, Emma Batten takes readers to 18th century Dymchurch. A place where newcomers are unwelcome, illicit trading goes virtually unchallenged and villagers live under the shadow of the great seawall.