Is the pain of loss a price worth paying for true love?

In the year 1704, dairy maid Elen Griffiths’ immunity to the smallpox plaguing England should be a blessing. But it feels more like a curse when she is plucked from her comfortable home to nurse high-born Viscount Mordiford through the illness within the confines of Duntisbourne Hall. There, Elen finds a horribly disfigured patient but she also discovers a friend in Ned Harley, the charming valet. However, before long sinister forces threaten Elen’s life and honour. Rescued by the man she has grown to love, she flees the country with the English army, not knowing if her affections are returned.

Across the Channel, Elen finds purpose serving as a nurse during the Duke of Marlborough’s campaign against Louis XIV. Surrounded by the horror and confusion of the brutal war against the French, Elen is reunited with her love on the eve of the Battle of Blenheim. She learns that his feelings mirror her own, but a moment of joy may be all they ever know. Even if he survives the battle, a figure from the past threatens to destroy Elen’s freedom, her happiness and her life.

Praise for The Summer Fields

“A gloriously original tale, based on historical truth, about a girl with an 18th-century superpower and a heart to match. You will ache for her to make it through the battlefields and win her love.” James Hawes

“The writing draws you in and immerses you in a time and place which luckily we have no experience of today. A battle fought many years ago. What the novel allows to linger however, is the human angle, the people who nursed the soldiers and those on the front line. It reminded me a bit of the TV drama The Crimson Fields and I would like to see this one on the small screen!” Reviewer 144074, NetGalley

“There are some lovely descriptions I must share, ‘the mist sucks up the smell of winter vegetation, rotting and black around the edge of the water.’ Anyone who has spent a few winters in the countryside will recollect the smell a second after reading that. This little snippet too, ‘You look as miserable as a wet bee.’ Absolutely spot on and I can never pass a forlorn wet bee without picking it up and placing it somewhere dry.” John V, Reviewer

You can order The Summer Fields from Waterstones, Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books or Google Play