I'm very excited to announce the release of my latest book The Housekeeper, and have decided to let you all have a sneak peek in to the book with an excerpt from the first chapter below.

But first, here is the synopsis to give you give you an idea of what you'll be reading:

A tale of love and heartbreak, taking us back in time to the idyllic Greek island of Orino, where the secrets and ill-fated love of one young woman are relived in a bid to save another from the same mistakes.

As a young woman, Poppy travelled to Orino Island as housekeeper for a wealthy family. A romance burgeoned between Poppy and Pantelis, the owner's son, but a tragic turn of events led him to cruelly abandoning her.

With no option but to stay on at the empty house as the housekeeper, Poppy was thrown into a predicament when Pantelis eventually returned with a pregnant new wife who, after giving birth, had no interest in the upbringing of her own children.

Left in her care, could Poppy bring herself to raise Pantelis's children by another woman? And what became of the feelings Pantelis once had for Poppy?

Now nearing the end of her life, and recovering from an accident that has left her bed-ridden, some news about Pantelis means Poppy must come to terms with the course her life has taken, and in turn she must try to stop her good friend Juliet from making the same mistakes.

Unable to turn back the clocks, will there be time to save someone else’s future?

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

She's forgotten to put her shoes on again. The heels of her slippers betray their presence, whispering shushhhh with every step as they drag across the village square. At least they are her black slippers and are still reasonably new. Her old purple ones, now matted with hair from the cats curling up on them over the years, squashing them out of shape and clawing them beyond recognition, are still the more comfortable of her two pairs. But right now, she would rather have the stiff discomfort these cause because, in passing, they can almost be mistaken for backless shoes worn to match her black skirt and her faded black blouse.

Shushhh, shush, shush. She tries to pick her feet up to stop the noise as she passes the kiosk.
'Morning, Poppy.' Vasso peers out above the pile of newspapers she is organising inside the serving hatch of her small wooden emporium.

'Morning.' Poppy's throat is dry and the word comes out cracked.

She coughs and tries again. 'Morning.'

This time the word is intelligible. A chat with Vasso will give her a moment to rest her legs. Maybe she will buy a bottle of water to lubricate her throat. But Vasso is no longer visible, hidden behind her growing stack of papers, obscured from view. So Poppy keeps up her steady tread, across the square. The kafenio to her left abuts the blank wall of the cheese factory. She will head up that way, walk in the limited shade it offers, a hand on the featureless wall for support.

Poppy glances up and down the road, hesitant to cross. Cars and bikes come so quickly these days, faster than she can move.

'Morning.' Theo passes in front of her on his little motorbike and pulls up outside the kafenio. He takes a shopping bag from the handle of his bike and trots with ease up the three steps into his masculine haven.

When she first came to the village, way back when she was only a child, it was Theo’s grandfather running the kafenio – a tall man with a mass of black hair except for a shock of white that flopped over one eye. She found him frightening back then. In fact, the kafenio itself, a place where men went to hide from their wives and put the world straight with tireless talk about politics in a fog of cigarette smoke, was generally unsettling. Without a father figure in her life, men were a mystery to Poppy.

'Fools, every one of them,' she mutters to herself, and she catches in the establishment’s well-polished windows the reflection of her own white fluffy crown of hair framing her wrinkled face. Quickening her pace across the tarmac, she pauses at the other side, takes a breath, her supporting hand feeling the years of the whitewashed plaster of the wall of the cheese factory.

It’s been a while since she has headed in this direction. Not that she is so very far from her house and the shop – it’s just that she seldom has any reason to come across to this side of the square and use this particular road.

Feeling a little rested, her feet shuffle forward again. Her hips are less stiff now; the rest must have done them good as it is becoming easier with every step.

'You need to oil your joints!' she tells herself, and she chuckles at her own humour.

'Where are you going, then?' A light step reaches her. It is Thanasis, and with him comes the smell of the donkeys he breeds and the hay he feeds them. It’s a comforting smell.
'That’s for me to know and no business of yours,' she snaps, but a little smile creases her lips. Over the years she has come to feel that Thanasis is not like the other men – he keeps himself to himself and doesn't ask questions. Well, usually he doesn’t.

'That’s true enough.' His tone of voice tells her that he is not offended by her sharp retort. 'Well, you have a rather hot day for it, whatever it is you’re up to.'

He has not fallen into step with her; his pace remains brisk and he is pulling away, but as he goes he turns to look back at her. He may be an old man, but his eyes still dance and there is life in his limbs – no aching hips for him! That’s what an active life will do for you.

'Have yourself a good day.' Poppy’s wish is heartfelt.
'And you have yourself a fine day too.' And off he strides.

'A nice man,' Poppy says and, unbidden, her heart twists at the memory of two young people, and the day she had to watch them walk away from her. Her age seems to be doing this to her these days – dragging her back to relive times she would rather forget, forcing her to dwell on memories that are best left buried.

'How tiny they were.' She can vividly recall the backs of the little ones walking away from her in a memory so etched into her soul that it twists her nerves and makes her eyes water every time.

If you enjoyed reading this, you can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XX26CM...

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