"That morning had come like any other fair dawn in the cool of spring: crisp and sparkling and fresh with the air of change."

Rumours of war are buzzing around her, yet the young healer who wrote those words could not have imagined the catastrophic changes that were coming that day. Before the morning is over, her home is in flames, her family is dead and she is taken captive by the Scottish army that invaded northern England in 1138. This is her remarkable story of loss, survival and love.

Eventually, the young woman writes of her experience, so it is her own voice that is heard in...

Phantom of the Shroppie is a novel for those who love travel, history, romance and the notion that magic really can reside not just in the world around us, but within the human heart as well - even in those hearts so wearied by the track of life that hope has slipped away among the weeds.

The book is about many things, among them love and lust, but Phantom of the Shroppie is not a typical romance. The story is told through the candid journals of four women who encounter a mysterious boatman in their journeys along the canals of England, especially the beautiful Shropshire...