The Guernsey Novel series #7
1862 Young widow Eugénie faces an uncertain future in Guernsey when her husband dies at sea. A further tragedy brings her to the attention of Monsieur Victor Hugo, exiled on the island and living in his voluptuous house only yards away from Eugénie. Their meeting changes her life and she begins working for him as a copyist, forming a strong friendship with both Hugo and his mistress, Juliette Drouet.
2012 Doctor Tess Le Prevost, born in Guernsey, now living in Exeter, is shocked to inherit her Great-Aunt’s house on the island. As a child she listened to Aunt Doris’s tales of their ancestor, Eugénie, whose house this once was, and who, according to family myth, was particularly close to Hugo. Was he the father of her child? Tess doubts it, but inheriting the house allows her to make a fresh start in her beloved island.
Will she discover the truth about Eugénie and Hugo? A surprise find may hold the answer as Tess embraces new challenges which test her strength – and her heart.
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/352abv5
The Betrayal
The Guernsey Novel series #6
Treachery and theft lead to death – and love
1940. Teresa Bichard and her baby are sent by her beloved husband, Leo, to England as the Germans draw closer to Guernsey. Days later they invade…
1942. Leo, of Jewish descent, is betrayed to the Germans and is sent to a concentration camp, never to return.
1945. Teresa returns to find Leo did not survive and the family’s valuable art collection, including a Renoir, is missing. Heartbroken, she returns to England.
2011. Nigel and his twin Fiona, buy a long-established antique shop in Guernsey and during a refit, find a hidden stash of paintings, including what appears to be a Renoir. Days later, Fiona finds Nigel dead, an apparent suicide. Refusing to accept the verdict, a distraught Fiona employs a detective to help her discover the truth…
Searching for the rightful owner of the painting brings Fiona close to someone who opens a chink in her broken heart. Can she answer some crucial questions before laying her brother’s ghost to rest?
Who betrayed Leo?
Who knew about the stolen Renoir?
And are they prepared to kill – again?
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2yCvCqE
Echoes of Time
The Guernsey Novel series #5
Betrayal, injustice and revenge echo down the years…
1940. Olive marries farmer Bill Falla. The Germans occupy Guernsey.
All too soon Olive realises she has made a mistake. Her life changes when she meets Wolfgang, a German officer-however there’s a price to pay. . .
2010. Natalie Ogier returns to Guernsey to escape an abusive relationship – only to be plagued by odd happenings in her beautiful cottage on the site of a derelict and secluded farm. Disturbing dreams, disembodied voices and uncanny visions from the past. She becomes increasingly ill at ease as someone else’s past catches up with her own…
Her only immediate neighbour, Stuart, is the grandson of the original owners, Bill and Olive.
Thrown together in a bid to find out what happened to Olive, can they each survive the repercussions of the past and move on?
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2wZgeE5
The Family Divided
The Guernsey Novel series #4
One family, divided by death – and money
Andy Batiste, at loggerheads with his degenerate cousin, seeks to discover the truth of his family history. Why was his pregnant grandmother forced to flee to France? What really happened to her husband during the German Occupation, sixty years ago? Who accused Edmund, the elder son and Batiste heir, of being an informer? Was he really a traitor – and who murdered him?
With Edmund’s brother Harold now head of the family, enjoying the wealth which ought to have come to Andy’s father, the family is forever divided. Andy yearns to clear Edmund’s name and restore his father to his rightful inheritance.
Into the conflict comes Charlotte Townsend, newly divorced, lonely and struggling with writer’s block and the consuming threat of impending loss. She returns for healing at Guernsey’s natural health centre, La Folie, and becomes involved in Andy’s family affairs.
Together they embark on a hunt for the truth…
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/34TXLWd
Guernsey Retreat
The Guernsey Novel series #3
Two violent deaths. Separated by time, but with a fatal connection… A man loses his father. A young woman loses her mother. Both in tragic circumstances that lead, when they meet, to surprising revelations from the past. Louisa needs to find the father she has never known, to warn him of possible danger – for them both. Her search takes her from England to Guernsey. Malcolm’s journey is more tortuous: conceived in Guernsey, he travels to Canada as a baby with his bereaved mother. Many years later he arrives in India, and from here he is led back to Guernsey to open a health centre at La Folie. This was his father’s home, where Malcolm was conceived, but never lived and where his father was killed at the start of the Second World War. At the heart of the two deaths lie stolen jewels. Valuable enough to kill for. Twice. Finding her father brings Louisa more than she bargains for, and her life is transformed, while Malcolm learns that life is, after all, for sharing…
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2VswgzT
Finding Mother
The Guernsey Novel series #2
Three women. Three generations. Sacrifices for love…
Who is she really? Nicole is about to find out as she searches for her real mother; the woman who gave her away at birth. With her marriage in tatters, she sets out from England: travelling to Spain, Jersey and Guernsey before the extraordinary story of her real family is finally revealed.
Nicole becomes an unwitting catalyst for change in the family. Two women are forced to reveal long-buried secrets. One going back as far as the Second World War. Lives are transformed as choices have to be made and the past laid to rest…
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2VrLl4u
Dangerous Waters
The Guernsey Novel series #1
Tragedy seems to follows Jeanne Le Page around . . .
Can she really go through it again and survive?
Jeanne Le Page is lucky to be alive … 15 years ago she was almost killed in a boating accident which brought heart-breaking family tragedy. Now 31, Jeanne is returning reluctantly to the Island of Guernsey following the death of her beloved Grandmother. Struggling for breath as the ferry nears the Island, Jeanne feels a dark foreboding overwhelm her as hazy memories of that terrible day resurface.
Only back on the Island to sell her inheritance – her Grandmother’s old cottage – she has no intention of sticking around to pick up her old life. But the cottage holds a secret, dating back to World War II, and Jeanne becomes drawn into discovering more. Then ,shortly after her arrival, a chance meeting with an old teenage crush leads her to thoughts of love.
Jeanne is forced to face her demons, reliving the tragedy as her lost memory returns.
The truth is finally revealed, endangering Jeanne’s life for a second time…
Book Link
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/34TE4O2
The Inheritance by Anne Allen is one year old. To celebrate all the seven books in The Guernsey Novel series will only be £1.99 on Kindle for a limited time. Each of the books can be read as a standalone too.
Q&A
1. Do you always take a book/e-reader wherever you go?
Absolutely! If I am on a long journey or going on holiday, it will be an e-reader. I was a slow convert initially, but now love having hundreds of books tucked away in something so small and promising many hours of entertainment.
2. Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?
Oooh! Depends, I think, on whether the ‘bad one’ was more evil than bad. For example, I wouldn’t want to be associated with the name of a mass killer. Might stop readers buying my books!
3. Where can I find you when you are reading?
Under normal circumstances I usually only read in bed. At the moment, with life being a bit challenging, I’m reading more often to escape reality. I read in my sitting-room or, if the sun’s shining, in my tiny courtyard garden.
4. Where can I find you when you are not writing/reading?
There are not many options at the moment! In ‘normal’ times, I might meet a friend for coffee, go to the cinema or theatre or meet up for lunch with fellow writers. I do tend to be more hermit than socialiser, and of course that is now heightened. I do go out for walks and am lucky enough to live by the sea and I find inspiration strikes more easily when I’m gazing at the waves and breathing in all that ozone.
5. Can you walk past a bookstore without going inside?
It would have been a problem in the past, but now I buy mainly e-books I tend to browse online. Not as enjoyable, I admit, as being in a real bookshop and occasionally I do pop into one if it looks inviting.
6. What are you most proud of?
On a personal level, bringing up my three wonderful children – now adults- on my own after their father died young. Career-wise, being a successful psychotherapist for 30+ years before becoming a writer and publishing 7 books – no 8 on the way.
7. What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?
It’s a bit like holding your baby for the first time – the awe and relief that it’s finally arrived and looks beautiful. That all the many months of hard work was worth it.
8. What piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Writing a book is hard work and to succeed you need to be focused, passionate about writing and initially be prepared to write for your own satisfaction and amusement. No-one else may ever read your words, but if you finish a book, that in itself is something to be proud of. And while you’re finding your feet as a writer, don’t give up the day job!
9. Who would you like/have liked to interview?
Tough choice! Although it could be intriguing to interview someone like William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens, it would be more productive for me to interview one of my favourite authors, Barbara Erskine. My last few books have been dual-time/time slip and she is the Queen of the genre and could pass on a few tips.
10. When and where do you prefer to write?
I write on my PC which is on the desk in my study so that limits my choice. I do sometimes write down notes and rough chapters by hand and might do this outside, weather permitting. I tend to write from late morning and through the afternoon.
Thank you, Anne Allen and Love Books Group
About the author
Anne was born in Rugby to a Welsh father and an English mother. As a result, she spent many summers with her Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learned to love the sea. Now she is based in Devon to be near her daughter and two small grandchildren. Her restless spirit has meant many moves, the longest stay being in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns. Her younger son is based in London – ideal for city breaks ☺
By profession, Anne was a psychotherapist who long had a desire to write and Dangerous Waters, her first novel, was published in 2012. It was awarded Silver(Adult Fiction) in TheWishingShelfAwards 2012. Since then she has published six more books in The Guernsey Novels series; Finding Mother, Guernsey Retreat, The Family Divided, Echoes of Time- winner of The Diamond Book Award 2017, a finalist in Readersfavorite awards and granted a ChillWithABookAward, The Betrayal, and The Inheritance, published April 2019.
Social Media Links
Website: http://www.anneallen.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anne-Allen-Author-176883759173475/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnneAllen21
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