The Master of Measham Hall: a must-read historical novel about survival, love, and family loyalty Anna Abney 9780715654507

Alethea Hawthorne will not allow Measham Hall to fall into the hands of lesser men...

1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the English Civil Wars are yet to heal and now the Great Plague engulfs the land. Alethea Hawthorne is safe inside the walls of the Calverton household as a lady's companion waiting in anticipation of the day she can return to her ancestral home of Measham Hall.

But when Alethea suddenly finds herself cast out on the plague-ridden streets of London, a long road to Derbyshire lies ahead. Militias have closed their boroughs off to outsiders for fear of contamination.

Fortune smiles on her when Jack appears, an unlikely travelling companion who helps this determined girl to navigate a perilous new world of religious dissenters, charlatans and a pestilence that afflicts peasants and lords alike.

The Master of Measham Hall is the first book in a page-turning historical series. In lyrical prose, Anna Abney portrays the religious divides at the heart of Restoration England in a timeless novel about survival, love, and family loyalty.

Anna Abney is among the last descendants of the Abney family, former residents of Measham Hall, a lost house of Derbyshire. The Measham Hall series is a fictionalised account of her ancestors' lives. An academic in the English and Creative Writing department at the Open University. Anna was born and raised in London and lived in Ireland, North and South, for thirteen years before returning to the Big Smoke. She now lives in rural Kent with her husband, a playwright and screenwriter, and their border-collie.

'It's rare for a historical novel to feel so timely' Jo Baker, Sunday Times bestselling author of Longbourn

'Exciting and immersive. It took me straight into the heart of Restoration England in all its rich and vivid detail. I was gripped! Such beautiful writing too - Anna is a stunning new talent' Nicola Cornick, international bestselling author of House of Shadows

'Impeccably researched and wonderfully atmospheric, with a heroine you can't help rooting for' Frances Quinn, author of The Smallest Man

'A thoroughly engaging romp... By turns entertaining, surprising and thought-provoking, this is an impressive debut' Jane Johnson, author of The Sea Gate

'A gripping depiction of what people will do to survive, the long-held beliefs and scruples questioned and cast aside as well as the unexpected kindnesses and unusual alliances made. In elegant prose, this enthralling novel puts a human face to the trials, terrors and enduring hopes of the plague years' Catherine Meyrick, author of The Bridled Tongue

'A thrilling and original tale of reinvention! Death in a time of plague is expected. What happens to Abney's heroine Alethea is not. The Master of Measham Hall is a vivid and extraordinary journey of survival, and ultimately an exploration of what we gain and what we lose as we pass through this world' VL Valentine, The Plague Letters

'A powerful and engaging story, full of good characters, satisfying plot turns, and excellent scene-setting. With all the details and insights on offer, it feels like a rich and rewarding panorama of English culture in the 1660s. The transformation of Alethea was wonderful to read, and genuinely gripping' Richard Hamblyn