My thanks also go out to the Robinson family at Strickley for their wonderful Twitter account @1940atStrickley, which offers daily tweets of date-appropriate entries taken from the family’s farming diaries written in the 1930s and 1940s. This resource proved most useful when I was deciding what tasks to give my characters, and it also inspired the scene where Gwen re-reads her father’s diaries. If you have an interest in country life and the farming practices of bygone days, this charming account is well worth following.

I was very lucky to have some brilliant first readers – my thanks to Rebecca Netley, Kate Galley, Corin Burnside and Anita Matthews. As always, a special shout out to the fabulous (and totally bananas) #VWG, surely the most supportive writing group there is and certainly the best writing buddies a girl could ever hope to have.

I must save a special thanks for my friends and family – especially for Rod, Isabel, Molly and Jack – for all the love and support they have given me, without which I would be lost. And, of course, to my Welsh Springer Bonnie, who provides no help whatsoever with the plot problems I share with her at great length on our dog walks, though the walks themselves are exceedingly useful for unravelling those tangled plot points.

And last but by no means least, I must thank you for choosing to read The Return. I really hope you enjoyed it and, if you did, I would be beyond grateful if you would consider taking a moment to leave a brief review somewhere – they really do make the world of difference to us authors. And if you are on social media, I can be found on Twitter at @Ajes74 and on Instagram @anitafrankauthor – I’d love it if you popped by to say hello.

Because after all, where would I be without you?

Extract

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Chapter One

Sunday, 6th May 1917

The brass plaque, polished so it shone like burnished gold, was mounted pride of place on the chantry wall – a new, if unwelcome, addition to the village church. Our boxed family pew was situated directly opposite, and rather than crick my neck to observe the vicar intoning from his elevated position in the pulpit, I found myself captivated by the ornate inscription.

IN MEMORY

ROBERT RICHARDSON

2ND LIEUT, 3RD MILITIA BN, BERKSHIRE REGT BELOVED ONLY SON of MR AND MRS HENRY RICHARDSON KILLED IN ACTUAL FIGHTING IN FRANCE, 2ND JULY 1916 AGED 18 YEARS

DUTY NOBLY DONE