I’m so excited to be on the blog tour for Alice’s Secret by Lynne Francis and to be able to share an extract with you.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Sabah from Avon Books for giving me an extract to share rather than a review when family sickness meant I was unable to read the book in time. My husband, me and two of my kids unfortunately all got ill with a sickness bug one after the other making life quite hectic. I absolutely adore historical fiction especially when it’s a timeslip one so I am truly gutted that I was unable to finish the book on time. I will hopefully get a chance to finish and review soon.
Alice’s Secret is available to buy now at the bargain price of £1.49 here.
Book Description:
The second saga in Lynne Francis’s wartime trilogy. Prepare to be captured by the story of Alice…
Can uncovering a long forgotten family mystery change your life?
1890 Alice is the sole bread-winner for her family, working at the local cotton mill. But when she suddenly begins to attract the wrong attention, her life begins to spiral out of control…
2018 For Alys, one bad decision after another has left her feeling that her life hasn’t quite turned out the way it should have. But when her aunt is suddenly injured and in need of help baking and running her beloved café, Alys knows a trip to Yorkshire is just the escape she needs.
In lending a hand, Alys stumbles across a long-buried family mystery and quickly finds herself caught up in uncovering the truth of what happened to her great-great-grandmother Alice…
Alys won’t stop until she knows the truth. Will the secrets of her grandmother’s past help her to change her own future?
A beautiful and heart-breaking novel, that brings the past and present together in a gripping story of love, loss and hope. Perfect for fans of Rosie Clarke and Tracy Rees.
Extract:
Alice stood at the range, stirring the porridge pot and shivering. It was dark, but she had been awake for some time now, disturbed by a fractious Elisabeth, and there seemed little point in trying to get back to sleep with morning so close, and her head full of worries. She turned as Ella stumbled sleepily across the room. From the jug on the side, Ella scooped up a handful of water, collected at the pump the night before, and splashed her face to shock herself into wakefulness to face the day.
‘Hurry and get dressed.’ Alice stirred the pot vigorously. ‘You’ll have time to eat some of this to warm yourself before you go. It’s still bitter outside.’
Ella yawned and stretched, and went over to baby Beth, now sleeping peacefully in her wooden cradle. She rocked it gently.
‘Don’t wake her,’ Alice warned. ‘It’s the first bit of peace I’ve had all night. Now, get on with you.’ She gave Ella a little push back towards the stairs.
Ten minutes later she was down again, and Alice had already set two bowls of porridge to cool at the table. Ella started to spoon hers quickly into her mouth. ‘I’ll be late,’ she mumbled.
‘You’ve got time enough. There’s no need to bolt your food like that,’ Alice scolded. ‘Now listen, I want you to ask Albert to come by one night on the way home. He’s not been to see Beth yet, and I want to ask something of him. Will you do that for me?’
Ella was already on her feet, pushing her chair back. ‘Of course. We can walk back together. It’s nice to have some company when the path is so dark.’ She looked out of the window as she pulled on the same rough wool shawl that Alice had also worn for her winter journeys to the mill. ‘Dark at night, dark in the morning.’ She sighed, picking up the lantern that Alice had already lit for her.
Alice turned Ella towards her, searching her face, troubled by the way the spark seemed to have gone out of her. ‘Is all well at the mill?’ she asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.
‘Well enough.’ Ella turned away to take hold of her lantern and work basket as she unlatched the kitchen door. She paused on the threshold, gazing out into the darkness, then turned and looked back into the kitchen. The fire in the range glowed now, bringing some warmth into the room. All was calm and peaceful, Beth slept soundly, and theyounger children weren’t awake yet.
‘I hate the mill, as you did,’ she said. ‘But there’s nothing to be done.’
Alice caught her arm as she turned to go. ‘But there’s nothing else? No trouble with anyone at work?’
‘Oh, some of the girls are quite snippy.’ Ella shrugged. ‘But we get along well enough.’ And with that she gave Alice a quick hug, then headed off down the path. Opening the gate, she stepped out into the road, blending into a group of other figures, similarly muffled against the cold, as gusty winds blew them along on their journey towards the woods and the mill path.
About The Author:
Lynne Francis grew up in East Yorkshire but lived and worked in London for many years. It was while she was on a writing course in West Yorkshire that the characters and setting for The Mill Valley Girls novels came into being. She draws her inspiration from landscapes and the countryside, as well as the history of an area. Now living in east Kent, she has embarked on a new novel, to be set here in the late 1700s.
Ella’s Journey is her debut and the first of three novels about the same family, covering the period 1850 to the present day.
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Over The Rainbow Blog 