Honesty's Daughter

Carmel Benbow's first love has always been her garden and, since her husband's death, little else has occupied her. But her children, long-starved of a mother's affections are suffering. Seventeen-year-old Michaeljohn is a vicious bully, his younger brother, Ambrose, his primary target, and Astrid, the eldest, is embroiled in a highly unsuitable affair. As the First World War approaches, the family is on the verge of disintegration, but help comes from an unusual source. Keziah, a lifelong friend, traveller and horse-dealer, uses her controversial magic on the family, but will her influence be enough to rescue Michaeljohn from himself, Ambrose from Michaeljohn and Astrid from her lover?

Wendy Robertson grew up in the North of England, one of four children whose widowed mother, an ex-nurse, worked in a factory. Wendy worked as a teacher, then a lecturer, gaining a Master's degree whilst also at various times writing short stories, articles, a weekly column in the Northern Echo and novels for young adults published nationally. A full-time writer since 1989, she has also run a writing group and workshops for new writers, and was recently Writer in Residence at Long Newton Prison.