Welcome

Welcome to Linmore Dale

The Linmore Series is set on the Shropshire side of the Welsh border in the Pre-Regency Georgian era. It is an interlinking series caught between the elegant world of polite society and the working classes on the country estates of the gentry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries – a time in which the Napoleonic Wars rumble on in the background, and life, with its family feuds and intrigues, continues in a rural England of the Agricultural Revolution.

The stories alternate between the gentry at Linmore Hall and the working classes in Linmore Dale, with whom their lives are inextricably linked; the one class relying on the other.

The Early Years

Brothers at Arms, (1794 – 1802) – involving the gentry at Linmore Hall, tells the story of a friendship built to last, which was willfully destroyed on a whim – without regard to the consequences. A coming of age story, which left none of the participants unscathed.

Counting the Cost, (1794-1808) – begins the story of the working classes who live in Linmore Dale.

The plot concerns a young gentlewoman, brought low by adversity, her fight to recover her good name and the lengths she is prepared to go to protect others less fortunate. It is a companion book to Brothers at Arms set in the same time frame.

A Marriage of Convenience

Held to Ransom, (1808 – 1816) – continues the saga involving the gentry at Linmore Hall.

Part 1 of a Marriage of Convenience, which would never have taken place if a vital piece of information had been known… And a friendship that begins in an atmosphere of emotional blackmail.

Estrangement, (1816-1817) – continues the trials and tribulations of life for the gentry at Linmore Hall.

Part 2 of a Marriage of Convenience, set in Shropshire during the Post-Napoleonic Regency era, is a story about loyalty, betrayal, sacrifice and survival. A marriage is in crisis, with a problem that cannot be solved alone, and the future of the Linmore Estate hangs in the balance. Only time will tell whether events yet to unfold, will restore its friendships and fortunes – or tear them asunder.

Hiding the Truth, (1817-1818) – concludes the marriage of convenience trilogy.

The Foundling’s Path

Living in the Shadows, (1808 – 1816) – picks up the interlinking story of the working classes and the gentry living in the shadow of Linmore Hill.

Part 1 of the Foundling’s Path, a story about an alliance between a homeless girl, a country midwife and a physician; each ready to help the other – in secret – at a time when it is illegal to cohabit with gypsies and herbal treatments are likened to witchcraft.

Finding Her Place, (1817) – continues the story of the foundling’s search for respectability, with the people in Linmore Dale who help her – and those who would see her fail. Set in rural Shropshire during the Post-Napoleonic Regency era.

Part 2 of the Foundling’s Path, continues the mystery and speculation into a foundling’s past which reveals links with people of quality, and the conspiracies of people who will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

Keeping A Secret, (1817-1818) – concludes a family saga set in rural Shropshire during the Post-Napoleonic Regency Era.

Part 3 concludes the Foundling’s Path trilogy.

For Better Or Worse

An Element of Doubt, (1818-1820) – continues to Linmore story with Joshua Norbery’s search for a new wife and mother for his children