Innkeeper's Daughter

In 1846, Bella, a 13-year-old girl, lives at the Woodman Inn with her family in the Yorkshire countryside. She dreams of leaving home to become a schoolteacher, but when her father dies and her mother is expecting a fifth child, her dreams are dashed. Bella is forced to take on the role of mother to her baby brother and is brightened by the occasional visit from Jamie Lucan, the 18-year-old son of a wealthy landowning neighbor. When her mother announces that they are moving to Hull, Bella is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. They arrive to find that the public house they are now committed to buying is run-down and dilapidated, but could this move turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Bella?

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 448 pages
Publication date: 08 July 2021
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd

Holderness, 1846. Thirteen-year-old Bella's life is not going as planned. She lives at the Woodman Inn, an ancient inn run by her family in the Yorkshire countryside, with her parents and siblings, but when she learns that her father is seriously ill and her mother is expecting a fifth child, her dreams of leaving home to become a schoolteacher are quickly dashed. Times are hard, and when their father dies, Bella also has to take on the role of mother to her baby brother. Her days are brightened by occasional visits from Jamie Lucan, the eighteen-year-old son of a wealthy landowner neighbor. Grieving the loss of a parent, Jamie has more in common with Bella than she thinks. When her mother suddenly announces that she wants to move the family to Hull, Bella is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. They arrive to find that the public house they are now committed to buying is run-down and dilapidated. Could things get any worse? Or could this move turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Bella?

If you've liked books by Dilly Court and Katie Flynn, you'll love Val Wood's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.

Praise for Val Wood:

A heart-warming story filled with compelling action. Rosie Goodwin, Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson, BBC Radio 4's Front Row. Wonderfully fully-fleshed characters are the mainstay of [Val Wood's] stories. Peterborough Telegraph

Weight: 310g
Dimension: 199 x 128 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780552177580