I'm a stickler for the author's mantra 'Never engage' with anyone who gives you a bad review, but when that review is libellous, I feel I have the right to defend myself. The offending review of my latest WW2 novel, The Light We Left Behind, accused me of 'possible plagiarism' on both Goodreads and Amazon. It has been reported several times on both sites, including by my publishers, but it still remains. So, I am going to refute the accusation here, myself.

Without going into the legal battles I have had to bring The Light We Left Behind to publication, I can honestly say that I took great pains to use academic material that was already in the public domain. Any writer of historical fiction does the same, drawing on established, documented fact, otherwise there would be no historical fiction because we all rely on existing knowledge to a certain extent. Secondly, I also did a lot of my own original research. I acknowledge all those wonderful people who were so giving of their information and time in the novel. On top of this, I had the expert help and support of an academic who specialises in this field. To accuse me of 'possible plagiarism' is not only erroneous, it is also potentially libellous. In the absence of being supported by Goodreads or Amazon to have this accusation taken down, I feel I had to speak out. Thank you for reading.