Shropshire Star

Ironbridge setting for author's saga

Historical novelist Mollie Walton has drawn once more on Ironbridge for inspiration in her latest book, called The Secrets of Ironbridge.

Published
Mollie Walton.

Set in 1850s Shropshire, it follows on from her debut saga novel The Daughters of Ironbridge interweaving a fictional story with fact.

Mollie, which is the pen name for critically acclaimed historical novelist Rebecca Mascull, has always been fascinated by history and her original inspiration for her trilogy – she is already working on the third book in the series – came on a trip to Shropshire, while gazing down from the Iron Bridge.

Rebecca has previously worked in education, has a Masters degree in writing, and lives by the sea in the east of England.

She has visited Shropshire as part of her researches.

In the latest book, Beatrice Ashford returns to her mother's birthplace at the age of 18 and encounters a complex family she barely knows. Her great-grandmother Queenie adores her, but the privileged social position of Beatrice's family as masters of the local brickworks begins to make her uncomfortable.

When she meets and falls for handsome Owen Malone, who is from a class beneath her own, an old family feud and growing industrial unrest threatens to drive them apart.

The Secrets of Ironbridge is published by Zaffre on April 30 and is available in paperbook and ebook, price £7.99

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