About Lorna:

After teaching the piano and raising a family, Lorna exhibited and lectured on antique Chinese textiles in the UK, New York, China and Hong Kong. Following on from that she studied and taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS] in London gaining a doctorate in Chinese history. She now writes historical fiction full time and lives in Stamford in a very old house with stone walls and lots of beams. Just the place for a historian. She is very fond of rabbits.

Now and then Lorna writes eclectic interesting blogs – you can sign up at the top of this page to receive them direct to your in box.

AND you can follow Lorna on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. All linked at the top of this page.

Lorna’s novels –

NEW BEGINNINGS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND

and its sequel

CALLED TO VANCOUVER ISLAND

“It was Saturday night and Whitehaven was busy entertaining itself. A rogue wind was blowing in from the sea, brisk, cheerless and noisy, seeking warm crevices in which to rest awhile. Despite this, the town was teeming with deckhands just in from Antigua. Men with their caps drawn tight over their ears and their jackets buttoned high were swaying from inn to ale house, seeking excitement.”

New Beginnings on Vancouver Island – The year is 1854 and Stag Liddell, a youg collier from Whitehaven, signs up to work in Vancouver Island’s new coal mines. Whilst waiting for the ship to Canada, he meets ambitious school teacher Kate McAvoy who is also making the trip.

As the ship nears its destination, Stag and Kate’s relationship begin to blossom, but damning information comes to light and a pact made years before comes into play.

Will their budding romance survive these devastating revelations? And will they both achieve thier dreams in this new land?

In Called to Vancouver Island Grace Williams, a young English missionary, arrives in Colville, Vancouver Island, in 1857 to find the community neither wants nor seems to need her. When her superior, Reverend Palmer, disappears into the snowy woods, on a foolhardy mission to seek converts amongst the Salish First Nations people, Grace is left behind to oversee their mission. There are no half-measures in this place where they do things differently, and she is forced to find confidence and rise to the challenge.

Grace is grateful to Sam Gray, a widower, and Long Ben Sloane, the sawmill manager, who befriend and aid her in her mission to improve people’s lives and find acceptance. In this wild outpost, the two men become an invaluable support, but only one will win her heart…

The Shackletons of Whitehaven a mid 19th century shipping saga.

Will book loving Fergus Shackleton find success in business and love despite his overbearing father, Hector? By forging his own path is Fergus going to turn into his father, the very person he is trying to escape? Is chasing success going to change Fergus so much that his girlfriend, Becky, is forced to doubt their future together? Will the price of success be a broken heart?

Set in 1860, at a time when Whitehaven’s shipping was at its peak with iron ore being transported to Cardiff and coal to Dublin forming the “shamrock run”. Professional relationships were cemented only to fall apart, family relationships became strained and romance was threatened by social mores.

I do #Caturday every Saturday on Twitter