A graduate of Exeter University in the early 1980s, I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, before a change of career led me to writing children’s fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, I live with my husband and our beautiful Tonkinese cat.
The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max. I’m now working on the 17th book, The Shadow of the Great Fire. The series also includes several novellas that feature Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo adventures. As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I’m hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too.
In 1588, a plot to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth the First is about to unfold. At this crucial moment in English history, four visitors from the future arrive in Elizabethan London.
Twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot, together with their friend Charlie and their talking cat Max, embark upon their next journey into the past as they continue the search for their missing parents who are lost somewhere in the mists of time.
Finding themselves at the heart of a web of conspiracy, can the young time-travellers solve the mystery of the Tudor Rose?
Snippet:
My young time-travellers discover that it’s not a good idea to try using modern currency to buy something in Tudor England:
‘Fie! What’s this?’ The man stared at the coins that Joe had given him, his eyes narrowing with suspicion as he bit cautiously down on the edge of one of the pennies. His lips curled back instantly. ‘That doth not taste right. What hast thou given me, sirrah?’ He glared at Joe, before turning the coin over in his hands to study the reverse side. ‘And who is this supposed to be?’ He pointed at the face on the back of the penny piece.
Joe’s face looked innocent as he answered. ‘It’s the Queen… um, Queen Elizabeth.’
‘Nay, ’tis not Queen Elizabeth.’ The man’s voice grew louder. ‘She doth not look anything like that. Thou must think my brains are addled, young trickster.’
‘But it is… er, it’s Queen Elizabeth the Second.’
‘Eh? The Second? There is no Queen Elizabeth the Second, turnip. Our Queen Elizabeth is the only one there is.’
The enraged pie seller grabbed Joe by the scruff of the neck and began to shake him. ‘I’ll call for the watch – they know how to deal with knaves like you. Trying to pass counterfeit coins is a hanging offence, and you’ve stolen five of my best pies too.’
Joe’s face went white, as he tried to twist free from the man’s grasp. ‘That’s not true. It’s not fake, that’s real money, it…’
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