Sunderland author Amanda Revell Walton releases Shipyard Girls Christmas novel + win signed copies

The hundreds of real Wearside women who played a vital role in the war effort by keeping Sunderland’s shipyards afloat during WWII inspired The Shipyard Girls series of novels by Nancy Revell, the pen name of Roker author Amanda Revell Walton.

Her work has proved a real page turner, becoming a bestseller locally at Sunderland Waterstones and nationally on the Sunday Times bestseller list, selling 250,000 copies. The seventh instalment in the gripping series, Christmas with the Shipyard Girls, is being released on October 31 and is set in Sunderland in Christmas 1942.

Amanda, whose family worked in the shipyards, said: “Christmas is such a magical time of year, and so it felt really important for me to capture and reflect that in this seventh instalment of the Shipyard Girls series. I hope readers feel I have succeeded.

“Christmas with the Shipyard Girls starts where Courage of the Shipyard Girls ended in October 1942 just after the Tatham Street bombing. And it goes right up to Christmas Day. Early reviews have all been five star, which is a wonderful start.”

She added: “People have also been commenting on how lovely the cover is – and I must say I was over the moon when I saw it, especially as the background image is a genuine photograph of Sunderland during WW2 – as always, provided by the Sunderland Antiquarian Society.”

This year Amanda signed a five book deal with publishers Arrow, which means the series will go right up to the end of the war, with each book covering roughly a six month period.

*Christmas with the Shipyard Girls is available on Kindle, and will be published in paperback on October 31, priced £6.99.

*On Friday, November 1 Nancy will be giving talks at Sunderland Library in Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens from 10.30am to 11.30am and Washington library from 2.30pm to 3.30pm as part of the Sunderland Libraries Literature Festival. Suggested donation is £3.

*On Saturday, November 2 Nancy will be signing copies of the new book at Waterstones Sunderland from noon until 2pm.

WIN

To win one of five signed copies of Christmas with the Shipyard Girls answer this question: in which year is the latest book set? Email your answer, along with your name, contact number and postal address, to [email protected] by Monday, November 4. Usual JPI Media competition rules apply.

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