New book for best-selling gran Mary

Mary, of Blackpool, will launch her latest book, entitled In Their Mother’s Footsteps, at a Christmas shopping event, at Plackitt and Booth Booksellers on Clifton Street, on Thursday.

The drop-in event will take place between 6.30 and 8.30pm and customers can enjoy a glass of wine or soft drink and a mince pie. Mary will sign copies of the book and there will be a free prize draw.

To date, Mary has five books published in paperback by PanMacmillan.

Cancer-survivor Mary became a Sunday Times top 20 best seller in June this year with her northern saga An Unbreakable Bond. She recently signed a further two-book deal, her third contract with PanMacmillan.

She said: “I live in Blackpool, from May to December, and then in Spain for the winter. The time I spend there is my main writing time.

I write two books a year, sometimes three, and Pan Macmillan already have my 2017 releases ready. At the moment, I am putting the finishing touches to my May 2018 release.

“My time in Blackpool is spent editing, writing, and on book release promotions. I tour twice a year.

“During summer months, I’m happy to take on speaking engagements for libraries, writing groups and other groups who might be interested in a talk on an author’s life.”

Although a stand-alone novel, In Their Mother’s Footsteps continues the story of All I Have to Give, which was set in The First World War and published last December.

Set in 1939, it tells the story of Edith, a doctor, running a home for unmarried mothers and a free surgery for the poor in the East End of London, with Ada, a grieving mother. As war breaks out, Edith is in agony over her lost twins, now 21. She knows there is a strong possibility that Petra, the woman who stole them from her as babies, took them to Poland.

In Poland, twins Elka and Ania discover the truth of their parentage at the funeral of the woman they believed was their mother. Their anguish is added to by the fact the Germans are beginning to ethnic cleanse the Jewish population to which they belong.

Elka and Jhona, the man Elka loves, make it to France, where they discover information about Edith. But war intervenes, and soon, a contact they make in their quest to find Edith, recognises how useful they would be as special agents. They accept and plunge into the courageous, but dangerous, world of espionage.

Mary said: “I loved writing this book, and travelled to Krakow in Poland, by car, to complete my research. I visited Zakopane, a village in the Tatra Mountains, and Auschwitz – a traumatic experience. Both feature in the novel.”

The new book will be available in WHSmiths, Waterstones, Plackitt and Booth and major supermarkets. Email [email protected]