Win signed copies of The Widow's Choice, the new book by Shipyard Girls author Nancy Revell

The author of the hugely-popular Shipyard Girls series is back and this time she's turned her pen from the shipyards of Sunderland to a Durham manor house.

Released on Thursday, January 4, The Widow's Choice is the new novel by Nancy Revell who has sold more than 600,000 copies of her Shipyard Girls books about the Wearside women who kept Sunderland's shipyards afloat during the war.

Set in County Durham in 1949, the new release will be the first in a Cuthford Manor trilogy.

It tells the story of Angie who marries her sweetheart Quentin and moves into Cuthford Manor to begin their new life together.

She feels like the luckiest woman in the world, but Quentin falls victim to a tragic accident and Angie’s life is left devastated.

Along with the prospect of rebuilding her life, she is faced with an impossible choice that will have far-reaching consequences for herself and those she loves most.

Only with the help of her family, the community of Cuthford Manor and her old friends from the Shipyards, will Angie draw on the inner strength to find happiness again.

Nancy, whose real name is Amanda Revell-Walton, said she was inspired to write the series after readers asked her what happened to the shipyard girls after the war.

The author said: "The idea for this new series came to me after my lovely readers kept messaging me asking what would happen to the shipyard women after the war.

"Initially I was just going to leave the women standing on the north dock, celebrating VE day, and looking out to the North Sea and wondering about the limitless possibilities the future might hold – but then the messages kept coming - and I kept thinking.  

"The character who kept jumping to the fore was Angie, who I’ve always had a soft spot for, but also because her life was going to be so completely different to the one she had been living. She was, after all, going to live in a manor house with her very rich husband Quentin Foxton-Clarke – and they were also taking Angie’s four siblings and elderly neighbour, Mrs Kwiatkowski.   

"I had that ‘what if’ moment and a story started to take shape in my head, and then found its way onto paper, and several months down the line it became The Widow’s Choice."

Amanda added: "I’ve loved writing The Widow’s Choice  – and I’ve loved writing about a different period. (The late 1940’s to early 1950’s). And I’ve also loved writing about another part of the north east – although there’s still the odd scene when Angie goes back to Sunderland to meet up with her former workmates.  

"I’m really hoping that everyone who reads The Widow’s Choice revels in the world of those living in Cuthford Manor as much as they did the world of  The Shipyard Girls – perhaps even more?"

*Amanda Revell-Walton, aka Nancy Revell, will be doing a signing at Waterstones, The Bridges, on Saturday, January 6 from 12noon until 2pm.

Win

We have five signed copies of The Widow's Choice to give away to Echo readers.

To be in with a chance of winning, answer this question: what river do Sunderland and Durham share?

A. The River Wear

B. The River Tyne

C. The River Tees

Email your answer, along with your name and address, to [email protected] by January 11.

The winner will be notified by email and their prize will be posted out.

Usual National World competition rules apply.