WYCROFT

Set in Lancashire in the late 1700's, Christine Shuttleworth's sequel to The Seamstress of Carrington Hall follows the lives of Sir Valdo and Lady Fleetwood Lee Carringtons' adult children

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Wycroft

BOOK TWO

Louisa Lee Carrington. Beautiful, headstrong and wilful, and forbidden to visit the gypsies unchaperoned, she defies her father and is caught spying on their camp with far-reaching consequences.

Everand Lee Carrington, the second son. Interested in the building of canals and the study of hydrology, he struggles to find his place in an unforgiving society.

Richard Lee Carrington. First born and heir to the Carrington Estate. Troubled by arable land eroded for coal mining and canal building and the diverging interests of the estate he will inherit.

And the gypsies…

Tyler St Clair, a gypsy orphaned in a Yorkshire snow storm and raised by the Benedictine monks of Selby Abbey. As a formally educated young man unable to accept the confines of monastic life, he leaves the abbey and joins the gypsies, now camped on the Carrington Estate.

With the past coming back to haunt Fleetwood, and her children growing up and establishing their own lives, who could have foreseen the impact the gypsies would have on her family?

To buy the paperback:

Europe:  Amazon UK | Amazon DE (Germany) | Amazon (France) | Amazon (Italy) | Amazon (Spain)

US: Amazon US

Australia: email the Author to purchase a copy

Buy the eBook here

The Seamstress of Carrington Hall

BOOK ONE

Befriended by Lord Carrington, the poised and comely Fleetwood learns the etiquette and customs of the landed gentry. When her widowed mother dies, she leaves their tenanted cottage to live with her aunt and uncle at Moor House.

A chance meeting on the windswept moors of Lancashire between this beautiful young woman and a mysterious, olive skinned gypsy changes their lives forever.

Devastated by brutality, Fleetwood is forced to flee her aunt’s home. Overcoming adversity, she struggles to make a living amidst poverty and the harsh realities of a late eighteenth century mill town. Now part of a society where ambition is tempered by the lack of wealth and status, her saving grace is her skill with a needle.

The gypsy, unable to forget Fleetwood, seeks her out in Burnley where events conspire challenging his resolve for a future together….

To buy the paperback:

Europe:  Amazon UK | Amazon DE (Germany) | Amazon (France) | Amazon (Italy) | Amazon (Spain)

US: Amazon US

Australia: email the Author to purchase a copy

Buy the eBook here

Author’s Notes

THE SEAMSTRESS OF CARRINGTON HALL

The setting for this novel is loosely based on Burnley UK as it could have been in the late eighteenth century. In the construction of that fiction, however, I was fortunate to access historical records which allowed much factual information to be woven in and around the fiction, particularly that of Gawthorpe Hall and of Burnley the town in that time period.

Interest in my ancestral links to the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall; researching the impact of the industrial revolution on small villages and towns and the unfailing encouragement of my partner, family and friends all provided impetus for this novel.

My heartfelt thanks to Fiona Mcilreavy of Buderim Rare Books for her help in sourcing relevant factual material and her excellent critiquing skills, Roger Frost, local Burnley historian, Lord and Lady Shuttleworth who invited me to Leck Hall and its collection of ancestral portraits, one of which bears the name of my novel’s heroine, and to the quiet and constant guidance of my editor, Linda Hale.

WYCROFT

For the sequel to The Seamstress of Carrington Hall, I have woven stories of Sir Valdo and Lady Fleetwood Lee Carringtons’ children around the building of the Canal du Midi in France, and the Burnley embankment of the Leeds/Liverpool Canal. The foresight and knowledge of engineering, hydrology and building materials in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and with only the picks and shovels of labourers to build these and other canals, is impressive.

When I read, I look for opportunities to learn about historical events, significant achievements from another time, the enterprise and dedication of men and women often from very humble backgrounds, who have left this world with a wealth of achievements, many still with us today. Some of these worthy achievements are cited in this novel.

About the Author

CHRISTINE SHUTTLEWORTH

New Zealand born Christine Shuttleworth grew up in the village of Wakefield, attended Nelson College for Girls as a boarder, then studied Dental Therapy. After two years of overseas travel, she continued her career in both New Zealand and Australia. Graduating with an MA and a Grad Dip of Public Policy from the University of Melbourne, she moved into senior health management and public policy roles for Local, State and Federal Australian governments.

Now retired, the inspiration for her first two novels was an interest in eighteenth-century English life and her Lancastrian ancestral history. The opportunity to visit and research the places and events described in her novels has enabled her historical works of fiction to be supported factually.

Now retired, Christine lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with her partner John. She has two children and three grandchildren, plays golf, and enjoys gardening, creative cooking, and restoring market finds.

Image: Author’s birthplace Wakefield NZ, 1964
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