Rosie (left) and her sister Lily

Rosie was born in the last year of the peace and shared her birthday, 3 February, with her sister Lily. She was the youngest child in Polly and Albert’s family. The incident, in chapter 9 of Barefoot on the Cobbles, when Rosie fails to come home from school, is based on a real family story.

She married in 1936 and had one daughter but her husband died shortly afterwards, so Rosie returned to Clovelly to live with her parents. She spent the rest of her life in the village.

 ‘Rosie ran indoors, oblivious of the commotion that she had caused. The good news rushed down the street faster than a flood tide. Villagers came to express their relief, or to check if the rumours of Rosie’s safe return were true.’

 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.