The Chiddleigh Saga
Lies, secrets, deceit and betrayal in 14th Century England
No One Must Know
Book 1 of The Chiddleigh Saga
Society controlled them
Secrets moulded them
Lies divided them
England 1330: on a remote Devonshire estate. Young and innocent Joan de Chiddeigh is struggling with her new status as Lady of the Manor.
Lonely and neglected by her ambitious husband, Sir John, she strikes up a forbidden friendship with a kitchen maid called Annie. However, Annie is hiding a terrible dark secret.
As their friendships deepens, Joan finds herself getting more and more entangled in a chain of lies that will divide her and Sir John, threaten the Chiddleigh estate and change lives forever.
The Chrysalis BREW Readers' Choice Award
September 2022
The Chrysalis BREW Historical Fiction category winner award 2023
USA Silver Falchion Book Awards Finalist 2022
No Going Back
Book 2 of The Chiddleigh Saga
Duty bound them
Dreams eluded them
Love tormented them
The BREW Chrysalis Project
Readers Choice Award April 2024
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Devonshire, England 1348: the plague is sweeping the land. Young Lord Thomas de Chiddleigh is sent home from school only to discover that the plague has reached his estate, forcing him to take on the role of Lord of the Manor.
Desperate to avoid the plague and save the few surviving people, Thomas leads them to a remote farmstead, intending to wait out the plague and return to his studies in the spring.
However, the farmstead is derelict and with few supplies, Thomas and his group face a perilous winter.
Tensions mount as the inexperienced Thomas clashes repeatedly with his workers, some of whom are harbouring dark secrets about his family.
Thomas’s life is further complicated when he meets Rulf, a young man who has levels of confidence Thomas can only dream of. As their friendship deepens, and past secrets are revealed, Thomas has to decide between the duty he hates, his burning passion for knowledge and his forbidden love.
Photographs
Locations used in book 1 as seen today
Okehampton
Sourton Moor
Lydford Gaol entrance
Bridestowe Village
Dartmoor history
Okehampton Castle
Lydford Gaol
Lydford Gaol arrowslit
Burley Wood, Bridestowe
Dartmoor today
Okehampton Ford
Lydford Gaol history
Lydford Gaol staircase
Sourton Moor
Fernworthy Common
About me
I was born in Surrey, England and wrote stories from an early age. I still have some of them from when I was seven years old and the spellings are lovely! When I was ten years old, I wrote my first full-length book, called Amber. It was the story of a horse - Black Beauty was my favourite book at the time. I sent it to a publisher and months later received my first, albeit very kind, rejection letter.
As a child, I was fascinated by my grandfather's tales of our Devon family. Years later, I researched my family and was inspired to write No One Must Know.
I now live in Devon and when I'm not writing I enjoy gardening and walking with my husband and our dog, Monty.
