SHEILA NORTON
MY BOOKS
ONE WEEK IN WINTER
Published by Amazon on 5 October 2023
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Julia and Lauren are sisters, but they've never got along well. When they're thrown together for a week in the wilds of Dartmoor in the middle of winter, they suddenly find themselves confronting their past. Can they survive a whole week together? Who is the 'Wise Woman of Deepcombe' and can she finally bring the sisters back together?
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THE SECRET OF ANGEL COVE
Published by Piatkus in December 2022
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Joy and Sara are neighbours living in the only two houses at beautiful Angel Cove. Despite being at different stages of their lives, both are at turning points and both need a friend. They also share a curiosity about the origin of the name of their cove. Who or what was the Angel of the Cove? Joy sets out to uncover the secret - with some unexpected results.
WINTER AT CLIFF'S END COTTAGE
(WINNER of the RoNAs award 2022 for the Christmas
and Winter seasonal novel of the year).
Published on 9 December 2021 by Piatkus
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Cliff's End Cottage is a local landmark. Perched on the South Devon coast, its garden has begun slowly toppling into the sea, yet the elderly and infamously stubborn owner Stella refuses to leave her home. When Holly, a young journalist and single mum struggling to make ends meet, decides to interview Stella about her life, at first she's given short shrift. However, helped by a slice or two of cake and a couple of friendly cats, a tentative friendship begins to develop between the two lonely women.
Stella and Holly may live different lives, but during the cold days of winter, as Stella shares her story, the two women discover more and more in common. Time is running out for the house on the edge, but perhaps, together, Stella and Holly can find a new way forward.
Published on 4 March 2021 by Ebury.
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After the sudden death of her estranged husband, Clare is shocked to discover she has inherited a dog and a small fortune. Convinced by her adult children to finally do something for herself, Clare embarks on a coast-to-coast adventure - until she stumbles upon an unmarked location on the fringes of South Devon.
When Clare finds herself driving down a narrow road to the tiny village of Little Sorrell, she is met with distant, cold, and rude locals. But as she falls in love with a cottage she wishes to call home, can Little Sorrell truly be the place of second chances?...
WHAT I DIDN'T TELL YOU
When Judith hears that an ageing British rock star has been charged with retrospective abuse crimes dating back to the 1960s, his name doesn't just ring bells - it brings back floods of memories. She knew Ricky Gold, when she was a teenager growing up in Southend, before she emigrated with her family to New Zealand. And she wonders if she, or Trish, her best friend from back then, might be able to get to the truth of the matter. Why does Judith care enough about it to make the long journey back to England, on a complex quest for answers? And what other memories will her trip stir up - quite apart from stirring up an unresolved relationship with her first boyfriend, Eddie, with whom she parted back in 1965? Was Ricky Gold really guilty? Is someone holding back the truth? Or perhaps it's just the problem of trying to look back fifty years into the past.
THE LONELY HEARTS DOG WALKERS
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Published on 6 February 2020 by Ebury, and available in both paperback and ebook, this is the story of Nicky, who returns to live with her mum, in her childhood home in a small Devon village after the break-up of her marriage. It's hard to start over, especially for her little daughter Mia. Will a new puppy help? Will making new friends help? Can joining with the community to fight against the redevelopment of their village park give her life some purpose? Or will she find love again?
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THE PET SHOP AT PENNYCOMBE BAY
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Published by Ebury in February 2019.
Jess’s new job at the local pet shop comes under threat when boss Jim starts thinking about retirement. But with faithful dog Prudence by her side, Jess is determined to become more involved in the local community. It’s not long before she makes new friends, including handsome Tom and his son Jacob. But her hopes of romance are dashed when she sees Tom with a mystery woman...
Can Jess make Pennycombe feel like home?
THE PETS AT PRIMROSE COTTAGE
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This book was serialised first in four digital instalments, starting with Part 1 , 'A Place to Hide', and from March 2018 is now also published as a complete story in both paperback and ebook editions.
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Emma Nightingale needs a place to hide away. Pursued by the demons left by her ex-boyfriend, she takes refuge in quiet Crickleford, a sleepy town in Dartmoor, where she can lie low.
Life in Crickleford is quiet and peaceful, but it won’t be for long if people discover the truth about Emma’s past. Not wanting to make too much of a fuss, she ends up lying about why she's there - she's looking after some cats, she says - then suddenly the town’s new ‘pet-sitter’ is in high demand!
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THE VETS AT HOPE GREEN
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Published in June 2017 in paperback and ebook editions, as well as previously in four digital instalments, this is a story about a girl with a dream ... and the animals she loves.
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Sam has always dreamed of working with animals...
But her receptionist job in a London vets is not hitting the spot. Unsure of whether a busy city life is for her, she flees to her Nana Peggy’s idyllic country village.
But despite the rolling hills and its charming feel, life in Hope Green is far from peaceful. On first meeting Joe, the abrupt and bad-tempered local vet, Sam knows she must get him on side, but that is easier said than done...
With her dream close enough to touch, will she get there, or will events conspire against her...?
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CHARLIE, THE KITTEN WHO SAVED A LIFE
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Charlie's story is a sequel to OLIVER, THE CAT WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS, my first 'cat' story. It was published in paperback and ebook editions on 11 August 2016.
Charlie the kitten would do anything for his human. Just having recovered from a debilitating illness, eleven-year-old Caroline isn’t feeling her best, and the arrival of a new baby only makes her feel even more left out.
So when Caroline decides to run away, Charlie follows, vowing to protect her at all costs. But, for such a little kitten, it’s a big and scary world outside the comfort of the cottage – how far will he go to save his greatest friend?
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OLIVER, THE CAT WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS
Oliver's story - the tale of a little cat with a big heart - was published by Ebury Press in hardback and ebook editions on 22 October 2015. and as a paperback on 3 November 2016.
A friend who brings light at the darkest of times...
Oliver the cat is a timid little thing, and rarely ventures from his home in the Foresters’ Arms.
Then his life changes dramatically when a fire breaks out in the pub kitchen and he is left homeless and afraid. But, with the kindness of the humans around him, he soon learns to trust again. And, in his own special way, he helps to heal those around him. However, it isn’t until he meets a little girl in desperate need of a friend that he realises this village needs a Christmas miracle...
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A GRAND THING
'It's a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the world calls her a grandmother. '
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What’s going on with Nanny Kate? She’s always been there to look after the grandchildren, always so sensible, capable and reliable – the only problems up till now have been the arguments between her son and daughters about whose children she looks after the most! Now she suddenly seems to be losing things and forgetting things. Is it her age? Kate’s children are worried. Will they have to find a new childminder? Whose fault is it that their mum’s losing the plot? Kate just wishes they’d stop arguing. She loves them all and she’s absolutely fine – isn’t she?
The following six books are available only from Amazon, in both paperback and Kindle editions.
TICKET TO RIDE
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This book tells two interwoven stories - one of which is based on the tragedy of the child migrants to Australia, while the other takes place during the music scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1954, two small children arrive in Australia after a long sea voyage, with no idea why they’ve been sent there or what’s going to happen to them. Nearly fifteen years later back in England, promising young musician Jack Hunter disappears abruptly with no explanation to anyone, devastating his girlfriend and band mates. Two journeys – both changing lives forever – lives that eventually become entwined, across the decades and across the continents.
YESTERDAY
​Winner of the Guardian Legend Times Self-Published Book of the Month - November 2014
It’s the early 1960s, the dawn of Beatlemania and Mods & Rockers - and teenager Cathy Ferguson is desperate to be a Mod – if only her mum would let her. When the first burst of fighting kicks off between the Mods and the Rockers at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, Cathy shouldn’t even be there, but the events which follow will haunt her for the rest of her life. Forty years later, as a middle-aged struggling journalist, she needs to revisit her unhappy memories of that time in order to write a story. Forty years is a long time to bury your past, but if Cathy’s going to write this story, she’s going to have to start digging.
THE SISTERS SERIES
These three stories about the Jennings sisters - Sophie Being Single, Debra Being Divorced, and Millie Being Married - are not only available as individual paperback and Kindle editions but also as a combined 'boxed set' of the Kindle editions, which is a real bargain!
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Earlier books : These are mostly now only available as Kindle books from Amazon.
SHORT STORY ANTHOLOGIES
These two books, available only as Kindle editions, are anthologies of short stories - twelve in each book - most of them originally published in women's magazines. TRAVELLERS' TALES s is a collection of stories with holiday or travel settings, while the stories in LET'S GET THE KETTLE ON all explore various aspects of the relationship between mums and daughters.
THE TALES FROM TRILOGY
I wrote these three books - TALES FROM A HEN WEEKEND, TALES FROM A WEDDING DAY and TALES FROM A HONEYMOON HOTEL, under the pseudonym of Olivia Ryan. The first two are now available only as Kindle editions, but the third is still available in both paperback and Kindle editions. Although these three books have the common theme of weddings, they are entirely separate stories about different characters.
FIRST NOVELS
These are my first five romantic comedy novels, originally published by Piatkus between 2003 and 2006. They are now only available as Kindle ebooks from Amazon.