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A thoroughly satisfying mix of history, romance and mystery.

About the Author

I had the good fortune to be born into a family of readers. My mother was reading Mary Stewart’s This Rough Magic when I was born, so it was perhaps no surprise that Mrs Stewart became my own favourite author.

I can’t remember when I began to put words on paper myself, but at seven - after reading Little Women and deciding that I wanted to be just like Jo - I started writing first chapters, and wrote continually through my teenage years. After studying politics and international development at university, I sidestepped into museum work and at the age of twenty-two became a curator.

In that same year, my sister dared me to stop writing first chapters and produce a book. I’d never been able to resist a dare! By the end of that summer I’d finished my first novel, and I was hooked. My ‘hobby’ had become a vocation.

I left the museum to waitress and write. Working mostly late at night, I wrote my second novel, Mariana, and submitted it to Transworld Publishers’ Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize competition. Four days before Christmas, I learned that I’d won. The very best of Christmas presents, and one that truly changed my life - not only the £10,000 prize, but major international publication of a book that continues to find its own life.
And more than twenty years later, I’m still feeling fortunate, doing the thing I love best...telling stories. Sally Armstrong is an actress known for her work on television in The League of Gentlemen, Frontiers and Holby City. She studied at the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art and has a strong background performing on stage, including in London and across the United Kingdom. Sally has narrated many audiobooks in a range of genres but is best known for her work on Lin Anderson’s Dr Rhona MacLeod series.

Reviews

'She has a poetic sensibility and a sense of mystery; she could write the modern Rebecca.'
*The Bookseller*