#253 Signed copy of The Sea Gate by author Jane Johnson

'A beautifully written and intriguing story that stayed with me long after I had turned the last page' Santa Montefiore

'I wanted to live in this story. Jane Johnson writes with such grace and ease' Carol Drinkwater

One house, two women, a lifetime of secrets...

Following the death of her mother, Becky begins the sad task of sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope post-marked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother's elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home.

Becky arrives at Chynalls to find the beautiful old house crumbling into the ground, and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Though daunted by the enormity of the task, Becky sets to work. But as she peels back the layers of paint, plaster and grime, she uncovers secrets buried for more than seventy years. Secrets from a time when Olivia was young, the Second World War was raging, and danger and romance lurked round every corner...

The Sea Gate is a sweeping, spellbinding novel about the lives of two very different women, and the secrets that bind them together.

'I can't recommend it highly enough' Katie Fforde.

'I so enjoyed this. It's a treat!' Amanda Craig.

'A beautiful, evocative story ... This had me in tears' Liz Fenwick.

About the author:

Come find me on Twitter @JaneJohnsonBakr and on Facebook at Jane Johnson (Writer)

My website is www.janejohnsonbooks.com and there you can find an email contact form: do write - I love to hear from my readers and always reply!

I update and blog regularly about writing, publishing and cooking Moroccan food (my husband is a Moroccan chef).

I am from Cornwall and I've worked in the book industry for 30 years as a bookseller, publisher and writer.

In 2005 I was in Morocco researching the story of a family member abducted from a Cornish church in 1625 by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa (which formed the basis for THE TENTH GIFT), when a near-fatal climbing incident (which makes an appearance in THE SALT ROAD) made me rethink my future! (The whole story is told on my website.)

I went home, gave up my office job in London, sold my flat and shipped the contents to Morocco. In October of that year I married Abdellatif, my own 'Berber pirate', and now we split our time between Cornwall and a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

I still work, remotely, as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins and am the editor for (among others) George RR Martin (GAME OF THRONES), Dean Koontz, Robin Hobb, Mark Lawrence, SK Tremayne (aka Sean Thomas) and Raymond Feist.

I was responsible for publishing the works of JRR Tolkien during the 1980s and 1990s and worked on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, spending many months in New Zealand with cast and crew. I have also written several books for children.