Torbay Express and South Devon Echo 12 August 1939

Although we first meet Mrs Gilley in the gardens of Clovelly Court, she is more at home in her home town of Torquay, where she is a lynchpin of the town’s genteel elite. It is through her character, amongst others, that Barefoot on the Cobbles can explore the intricacies and constraints of the early twentieth century social class system. We are allowed through the doors of her home to glimpse an opulence that is alien to most of the others who inhabit the novel’s pages.

Born Mary Elizabeth Angel in 1859, the future Mrs Gilley grew up in the comforts of an upper middle class household in Torquay. She and her sisters were educated at home by a governess. In 1882, at which time her family were living in Castle Grove, Torquay, Mary Elizabeth Angel married the widower, Tom Henry Gilley. Their early married life was spent at Kenwyn, Wellington Road, before they moved to Aylwood in Newton Road, Torquay. Mr Gilley established a flourishing railway cartage business and they associated with the cream of Torquay society. The Gilleys had eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Mary Gilley died in Paignton in 1939 and is buried in Torquay cemetery.

 ‘Mary Gilley was small and solidly built. Despite her greying hair and a slight stoop, she was impeccably and fashionably dressed; her speech underlining that she was a woman of some refinement.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.