Welcome to my website! Thank you for visiting and for your interest in my writing. If you'd like regular updates about my books please sign up for my regular newsletter in the pop-up box or at the bottom of this page. There's a free copy of one of my short stories, The Call of the Brainfever Bird, to download if you do.
I've been writing historical fiction, inspired by true events, for over three decades, and my first published novel was released by Monsoon Books in 2014. Bamboo Heart (recently relaunched as A Daughter's Quest) was inspired by researching my father's experience during the second world war. He was a prisoner of war of the Japanese on the Thai-Burma railway and the novel was loosely based on his story. Since 2014, I've written thirteen more historical novels. Most are set during the second world war or the 1930s in India or South East Asia, but more recently I've been writing about the war in Europe.
Some of my books are published by Bookouture, a division of Hachette UK, and others are self-published through my own Andaman Press.
My Bookouture books are The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home ,The Runaway Sisters
and my latest book The Forgotten Children, which was released on May 18th 2023.
I love connecting with readers, so if you'd like to get in touch, or to order a signed copy of any of my books, please let me know via the contacts page by pressing the pink button, or connect via Facebook or Twitter
The Forgotten Children
In the darkness of World War Two, orphaned twin sisters struggle to survive...
‘Wonderful and heartbreaking… This captivating story had me in tears more than once… Heart-warming… An absolute must read… I highly recommend it.’ Page Turners, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Berlin, 1938. The sound of screaming and shattered glass hurts my ears as the Nazis storm the streets outside our home. I risk a glance at my twin sister, Ruth, as we hide together under the bed. I can see the fear on my face mirrored in her identical one. We are Jewish, and we know what will happen if they find us…
Fifty years later. I hold the faded photograph with shaking hands and gaze at Ruth’s laughing face: her full cheeks, her dark eyes sparkling. Now, my own face is lined and my eyes are tired. Would she even still recognise me? And when my daughter asks what happened in the war, could finally sharing my own terrible secrets help me find Ruth again, somehow?
Breathtaking and unputdownable, this story is about courage, hope and the resilience of the human spirit, perfect for fans of Before We Were Yours, Sold on a Monday and The Orphan’s Tale.
The Oriental Lake Collection is a series of four captivating novels of love, loss and survival set in Asia during the 1930s and 40s. In each book, an iconic and mystical lake plays an important role; a remote mountain lake in British India where Royal princesses once bathed (The Lake Pavilion), a Maharajah's palace on a lake in a Princely state (The Lake Palace), the ancient and holy lake pagoda in Hanoi, French Indochina (The Lake Pagoda) and Tonle Sap in Cambodia, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia (The Lake Villa). All the books tell stories of women caught up in tragic events in colonial times, their struggles to survive and stay true to their ideals.
The books are all standalone stories and may be read in any order.
The Lake Villa : A spellbinding story of secrets and love in war-torn Indochina
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Indochina 1939, Colette, a young French woman, falls in love with Henri Bossière the Chief Curator of the mysterious temple, Angkor Wat, in Cambodia. She starts a new life with him in an idyllic villa perched on the edge the great lake of Tonlé Sap. But the second world war intervenes, sweeping away her world and leaving tragedy in its wake.
After the war, Colette attempts to rebuild her life, finding a friend in Luc Gilbert, Henri’s former deputy - a man with dark secrets. When Luc is made to leave Cambodia under a cloud, Colette is left to pick up the pieces and discovers his shocking truths.
In 1975 when the Khmer Rouge sweep through Cambodia, Colette is forced to return to France and leave everything behind. Two decades later, as the country is opening up, she returns to find answers to long-buried secrets and to track down two women from her past – Achariya, her Cambodian friend and housekeeper, and Sophia, a young woman with beautiful, restless eyes.
However, is Colette prepared for the unsettling truths she uncovers along the way…
The Lake Pagoda: A captivating story of love and loss set in war torn Indochina.
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French Indochina 1945: Arielle, the daughter of a French father and Vietnamese mother, is working for the colonial government. Because of her native blood, she’s spared imprisonment when the Japanese storm Hanoi. Forced to work for the enemy, Arielle is contacted by a Viet Minh agent, who threatens to expose her dark secrets from ten years before if she doesn’t help his cause.
As Arielle is drawn deeper into the rebels’ dangerous world, will she ever escape the torment of her past? Or will she find love in the most unexpected of places?
A novel of love, loss, and survival against all odds.
India,1944: Iris Walker, daughter of the British Political Agent in the princely state of Ranipur, is a volunteer nurse, caring for soldiers wounded fighting the Japanese on the border with Burma. One evening the maharajah invites Iris and her parents to a dinner at the Lake Palace, where she meets the enigmatic Edward Stark, a friend of the prince. Edward is dashing, kind and considerate, and the attraction is instantly mutual.
But Edward is en route to a special mission in the Naga Hills, meaning they have only days together before Iris is once again left alone. To distract herself from longing for Edward, Iris volunteers to work in a mobile hospital unit travelling behind the front line of the 14th Army where she sees the horrors of war first hand and realises how precious and precarious life can be.
In 1985, Iris, newly widowed, returns to India on holiday. A visit to the now neglected Lake Palace, brings back bitter memories from the 1940s that Iris cannot now let rest. She embarks on a journey into the Naga Hills to uncover long-buried truths from the war years.
The Lake Palace is the follow-up to The Lake Pavilion, although it can be read as a standalone book.
The Lake Palace: An enchanting novel set in British India during the Burma Campaign in WWII
Amelia soon forms a bond with Reginald’s young son, Arthur, and resumes missionary work in the villages around Ganpur. There, she discovers a pavilion on a lake where the wives of maharajahs once bathed, now abandoned and cloaked in mystery.
When the Indian independence movement flares in Ganpur and Reginald struggles to contain it, Amelia's world begins to fall apart as she uncovers the shattering truths he has been keeping from her.
Decades later, when Kate Hamilton inherits a rambling country house from her great aunt Amelia, she returns to the village in Buckinghamshire that she left as a teenager in 1944. Sorting through long-hidden papers, she begins to unearth Amelia’s secrets from her years in British India.
But Kate is harbouring a secret of her own – a devastating betrayal from that last summer of the war. She has lived in the shadow of that day ever since, but Kate is convinced that unlocking the truth about Amelia’s Indian past will hold the key to her own future…
The Lake Pavilion: a sweeping story of secrets and betrayal in wartime England and 1930s British India...
India 1935: Amelia Collins, a missionary’s daughter, left destitute by the death of her parents, leaves their home in the Himalayan foothills to find work in Darjeeling. There she meets District Officer Reginald Holden, a powerful older man, who spirits her away from poverty and prejudice to start a new life as his wife in Ganpur.
An empire shattered by conflict. Sisters torn apart by war and betrayal...
I have read all of this authors books, and enjoyed them all. However I think this is her best yet. I couldn't wait to find out what had happened to Betty all those years ago, and the tale was both harrowing and inspiring too. Five Stars - Amazon Reviewer
This was an engrossing read. I love how Ann Bennett crafts a story. Highly recommended. Five stars - Amazon reviewer
A daughter's promise to her dying father uncovers wartime secrets that cast dark shadows over three generations...
Heartbreaking historical fiction: Five Stars
Wow, What can I say, except another very well researched and harrowing portrayal of WW2 in the Far East. Amazon Reviewer
Love and sacrifice in 20th Century Burma: Five Stars
A captivating story of 20th century love and suffering, well worth reading. Amazon Reviewer
The horrors of WW2 echo down the decades, inspiring an epic journey to uncover devastating family secrets.
Another great read: Fantastic read couldn't put it down. I love all the books by this author but this one really was gripping.
Five Stars - Amazon Reviewer
I loved this book and believed in the characters immediately. ... Highly recommended if you like historical fiction set against a backdrop of some diligently researched history. Didn't want it to finish and several hours after reading the last line, its still going round in my head. Great book!
Five Stars - Amazon Reviewer
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Determined to settle old scores from the war years, Sirinya returns to her native Thailand, where once she risked everything to help prisoners of war on the Death Railway. But her journey into the past uncovers unexpected truths...
Family,loyalty, war, resistance, memories...
Very much enjoyed this holiday read and found it hard to put down. Five Stars: Goodreads Reviewer
A very thought-provoking novel which is well worth reading. Five Stars: Goodreads Reviewer
'A woman's quest to uncover the secrets of her WW2 father takes her to Thailand, Penang and the infamous Death Railway.
A powerful story brilliantly told. Five Stars.' Richard Kandler, author of The Prisoner List.
'This outstanding novel is a powerful reminder of what prisoners of the Japanese suffered...'
A woman's world torn apart by secrets and war. will the wounds ever heal?
'A vivid account of a brutal period, and a searing exploration of trauma, memory and loss..' The Lady Magazine.