A WELCOME FROM JANET

“Thanks for visiting!

When I was a child on holiday at the family home on the Isle of Skye, my brothers and I would gather around the fireside to hear our mother read aloud historical novels by the light of a paraffin lamp. Rosemary Sutcliff, DK Broster, Nigel Tranter, Geoffrey Trease. That's when my passion was lit for stories set in the past. As a teenager I devoured the novels of Jean Plaidy, Daphne Du Maurier, F Scott Fitzgerald and EM Forster.

Now I like nothing more than immersing myself in the past and creating my own stories!

If you love history, family drama or 20th century nostalgia I hope you’ll find something of interest here.  My historical novels cover many political events and social upheavals. My India Tea Series was inspired, in part, by the lives of my grandparents in northern India, where my grandfather was a forester. They left an amazing treasure trove of diaries, cine film and letters that document their intrepid travel in the foothills of the Himalayas. The other driving factor was my passion for tea!

My blog sometimes throws a spotlight on the research behind the novels, as well as forthcoming book events. I'm a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and an active member of the Northumbrian branch.

If you want to get in touch or leave comments, I’d be pleased to hear from you.

All the best, Janet.”

NEW - REUNION at the TEA GARDEN - the final novel in the India Tea Series

Growing up on a tea plantation in 1950s India as an only child, spirited Samantha (Sammy) Jackman has an idyllic, if solitary, childhood. But with the 1960s comes dramatic change; she is sent to boarding school in England but back home in India a border war breaks out with China, leaving her desperately worried for her family in Assam. Life is changing for the British tea planters who stayed on after Independence. A ceasefire enables her to return to India for Christmas, to her beloved Belgooree – the family home and estate of her cherished grandmother Clarrie – for a reunion with her parents and wider family. But the happy occasion ends in angry recriminations when a long-hidden old photo brings to light a traumatic and deeply troubling family secret. Sammy’s life is turned upside down and a gaping rift opens up between her and her mother. light a traumatic and deeply troubling family secret. Sammy’s life is turned upside down and a gaping rift opens up between her and her mother.

Find out more on the REUNION at the TEA GARDEN book page

IN THE FAR PASHMINA MOUNTAINS - SHORTLISTED FOR THE RNA HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVEL OF THE YEAR!

From the stormy Northumberland coast and the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to the heat of tropical India and remote Afghanistan, In the Far Pashmina Mountains is an epic tale of a woman's bravery and endurance in nineteenth century British India and a fierce enduring love that refuses to die.

**In the Far Pashmina Mountains was chosen as a Kindle First book of the month**

THE EMERALD AFFAIR – Amazon bestseller!

Friendship tested. Loyalties torn. A love that endures – the first in the new Raj Hotel Series.

After the heartbreak of the First World War, two friends leave Scotland for a new life in India. But love, loyalty and friendship will be tested to their utmost at The Raj Hotel in the heat and turbulence of colonial India.

The Diamond Daughter - the final novel in The Raj Hotel Series

1946: lively Jeanie Munro is returning to a post-war India, a country on the cusp of momentous change – and to a husband she hasn’t seen for over six years. While she tries to recapture their former loving relationship, Jeanie’s world is rocked by the discovery of long-buried family secrets and betrayal that threatens to destroy her future.

Find out more on the Diamond Daughter book page

THE SAPPHIRE CHILD - the sequel to the bestselling THE EMERALD AFFAIR

In the dying days of the Raj, against a backdrop of war, can their friendship—and love—survive?

In 1930s Northern India, childhood friends Stella and Andrew have grown up together in the orbit of the majestic Raj Hotel. Spirited Stella has always had a soft spot for boisterous Andrew, though she dreams of meeting a soulmate from outside the close-knit community. But life is turned on its head when one scandal shatters their friendship and another sees her betrayed by someone close.

THE INDIA TEA SERIES

From India to Britain, an epic journey of extraordinary women in momentous times.

These novels were partly inspired by rediscovered diaries and letters of Janet’s grandparents in India.

Unique cine footage that her forester grandfather filmed in the foothills of the Himalayas in the 1920s and 30s provided further inspiration. Take a look at the clip showing Janet’s mother and uncle being transported in a basket on top of a mule along narrow mountain tracks!

http://youtu.be/Ea_cIY-u0a4

THE TEA PLANTER’S DAUGHTER – India Tea Series Book 1

Lush, green, fragrant: the Indian hills of Assam are full of promise. But eighteen-year-old Clarissa Belhaven is full of worry. The family tea plantation is suffering, and so is her father, still grieving over the untimely death of his wife, while Clarissa’s fragile sister, Olive, needs love and resourceful care.

Beautiful and headstrong, Clarissa soon attracts the attention of young, brash Wesley Robson, a rival tea planter. Yet before his intentions become fully clear, tragedy befalls the Belhavens and the sisters are wrenched from their beloved tea garden to the industrial streets of Tyneside.

A world away from the only home she has ever known, Clarissa must start again. Using all her means, she must endure not only poverty but jealousy and betrayal too. Will the reappearance of Wesley give her the link to her old life that she so desperately craves? Or will a fast-changing world and the advent of war extinguish hope forever?

THE TEA PLANTER’S BRIDE – India Tea Series Book 2

When Sophie is suddenly orphaned at the age of six, she is taken from her parents’ tea plantation, the only home she has ever known, to be raised halfway across the world in Scotland.

As the years pass and her exotic childhood becomes a distant memory, adventurous Sophie finds refuge in her friendship with her kind, shy cousin, Tilly. It is no surprise when the girls follow each other to India to embark on new adventures, new lives and new loves.

But the reality of 1920s India is far removed from their dream: the jungles are too humid and the breathtaking tea gardens too remote. And amongst the stifling beauty, intrigue abounds; while Sophie struggles with affairs of the heart, Tilly, alone in a difficult world, delves into the mystery of Sophie’s parents’ deaths. As the past begins to darken their friendship, will long-held secrets shatter everything they’ve ever striven for?

THE GIRL FROM THE TEA GARDEN – India Tea Series Book 3

In the dying days of the Raj, Anglo-Indian schoolgirl Adela Robson dreams of a glamorous career on the stage. When she sneaks away from school in the back of handsome Sam Jackman’s car, she knows a new life awaits - but it is not the one she imagined. In Simla, the summer seat of the Raj government, Adela throws herself into all the dazzling entertainments 1930s Indian society can offer a beautiful débutante. But just as her ambitions seem on the cusp of becoming reality, she meets a charming but spoilt prince, setting in motion a devastating chain of events.

The outbreak of the Second World War finds Adela back in Newcastle in England - a country she cannot remember - without hope or love, and hiding a shameful secret. Only exceptional courage and endurance can pull her through these dark times and carry her back to the homeland of her heart.

THE SECRETS OF THE TEA GARDEN – India Tea Series Book 4

She’s gone in search of happy memories. But was her idyllic childhood in India an illusion?

After the Second World War, Libby Robson leaves chilly England for India, and the childhood home where she left her heart—and her beloved father, James - fourteen years ago.

At first Libby is intoxicated by India’s vibrant beauty: the bustle of Calcutta, the lush tea gardens of Assam. But beneath the surface a rebellion is simmering: India is on the brink of Independence, and the days of British rule are numbered. As the owner of a tea plantation, James embodies the hated colonial regime, and Libby finds herself questioning her idealised memories—particularly when she meets the dashing freedom fighter Ghulam Khan.

As Independence looms, life in India becomes precarious for Libby, James and even Ghulam. And when James reveals a shameful family secret, Libby is forced to question her past—and her future.

SCOTTISH HISTORICAL ROMANCES INCLUDE:

THE FLOWER OF SCOTLAND: a stirring and passionate story inspired by Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald (formerly titled The Jacobite Lass).

1740s: growing up on a remote Scottish island, beautiful and free-spirited Flora MacDonald is in love with childhood sweetheart, elusive Jacobite, Neil, yet increasingly drawn to passionate and handsome Allan. But tragedy strikes and the fate of a fugitive prince is in her hands. Will she risk everything for the sake of those she loves?

Janet writes: “THE SCOTTISH HEBRIDES are steeped in the history of Jacobite Risings and the legendary Flora MacDonald – a beautiful, spirited young woman from the Outer Isles who dared to put her life at risk to help the fugitive Bonnie Prince Charlie. And she may just be a cousin of mine! Although I’m a proud MacLeod – a clan genealogist has worked out that Flora and I are distant cousins – five steps of kinship removed and several generations! I have been following in her footsteps to get a feel of where she came from and the places where she lived – now I feel like I know her! I hope you will enjoy reading this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.”

You can find further information on THE FLOWER OF SCOTLAND on the Book Page