Foster's Mill

Escape into the world of Val Wood’s historical saga this winter and cosy up with this utterly gripping fireside read! 
 
Holderness, Yorkshire, 1988. 
 
Elizabeth Foster has lived in Tillington all her life. She knows everything about the local community… Everything except why another family, the Reedbarrows, now live in her ancestral home, Foster's Mill. 
 
When Christopher, a man from 'down south', arrives and begins asking questions about the Mill that no one has dared to ask for generations, secrets begin to surface, and Liz may finally find the answers she's been looking for. And perhaps, at last, Liz and her father will be able to return to their family home. 
 
But Liz soon realises that if the sea continues to ravage the cliffside, the land which the mill is built on will fall away. If she doesn't take action soon, there may not be a home for her to return to. 
 
With the help of Chris and the local community, can Liz save the village and claim what's rightfully hers? 
 
 
Readers LOVE Val Wood: 
'Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson' BBC Radio 4's Front Row 
‘One of those books that keeps you wanting more … impossible to put down’ 5 stars 
‘Val Wood never fails to impress … I could not put this book down’ 5 stars 
‘WOW. From the first page I was hooked … you will love this story’ 5 stars 
‘I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to melt away in the pages and be lost for a while. Riveting’ 5 stars 
‘Exciting story that kept me spellbound … Val has excelled herself yet again’ 5 stars 
‘The best book I have ever read, I really felt like I was part of the story and did not want it to end’ 5 stars

Since winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The Hungry Tide, Val Wood has become one of the most popular authors in the UK. 
 
Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley. 
 
When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hull for service and dedication to literature. 
 
Find out more about Val Wood's novels by visiting her website: www.valwood.co.uk

Holderness, Yorkshire, 1988. 
 
Elizabeth Foster has lived in Tillington all her life. She knows everything about the local community… Everything except why another family, the Reedbarrows, now live in her ancestral home, Foster's Mill. 
 
When Christopher, a man from 'down south', arrives and begins asking questions about the Mill that no one has dared to ask for generations, secrets begin to surface, and Liz may finally find the answers she's been looking for. And perhaps, at last, Liz and her father will be able to return to their family home. 
 
But Liz soon realises that if the sea continues to ravage the cliffside, the land which the mill is built on will fall away. If she doesn't take action soon, there may not be a home for her to return to. 
 
With the help of Chris and the local community, can Liz save the village and claim what's rightfully hers?

Annie

Can her courage lead her to a life of happiness? 
 
Annie Swinburn is harbouring a terrible secret. She has killed a man. The man was evil in every possible way, but she knows that her only fate if she stays in the slums of Hull is a hanging. 
 
And so she runs. As fast as she can, and as far as she can – up the river, along hidden paths of the Humber and into a new and familiar territory where she can start a new life. 
 
There she meets Toby Linton – a man born into a good life but now estranged from his family. He and his brother Matt earn a dangerous living as smugglers, but Annie soon realises they have more in common than she thought. And this new way of life might just offer her the chance of love, in spite of all the tragedy that has gone before… 
 
If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.

The Doorstep Girls

Ruby and Grace have grown up in the poorest slums of Hull. Friends since early childhood, they have supported each other in bad times and good. But their families are bound together by more than friendship, and secrets from the past threaten to make their lives even more difficult. 
 
The local cotton mill has provided work for Ruby and Grace since they were nine years old, and now years later both girls find themselves the object of attention from the mill owner's sons. As times grow harder, and money ever scarcer, Grace becomes involved in campaigns against poverty and injustice, while Ruby is tempted into prostitution. 
 
The two girls are searching for something that could take them far away . . . But what price will they pay to find it? 
 
If you like Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love this heartwarming story of triumph over adversity. 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Praise for Val Wood: 
 
'A heart-warming story filled with compelling action' Rosie Goodwin 
'Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson' BBC Radio 4's Front Row 
'Wonderfully fully-fleshed characters are the mainstay of [Val Wood's] stories' Peterborough Telegraph

The Hungry Tide

30th anniversary edition

As the sea claims the land, can she claim the love she deserves? 
 
In the old fishing town of Hull, Sarah Foster's parents have been fighting a constant battle with poverty, disease and crime. When her father Will, a whaling man, is involved in a terrible accident at sea, their lives became even harder. 
 
But Will's good deeds of the past pay off as John Rayner decides to rescue the Fosters. John provides them with work and a house on the estate owned by his wealthy family. It is at this new home on the crumbling coastline of Holderness that Sarah is born - and grows into a bright and beautiful girl, and a great source of strength to those around her. 
 
As John grows closer to Sarah, he becomes increasingly aware of his love for her. But could these two very different people ever make their love story truly work? 
 
If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.

A gripping and emotional historical novel from the Sunday Times bestseller

Little Girl Lost

A heart-warming story filled with compelling action

With fully developed characters and a compelling story, it's no wonder the author won the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her debut... A great choice for a book club

Margriet grew up as a lonely child in the old town of Hull. Her adored father often travelled by sea to the Netherlands, leaving her with an unaffectionate mother and only her imagination of a little Dutch girl, Anneliese, to keep her company. When devastation ravages her tiny family. Annelise becomes the comforting friend Margriet needs for a long time to come. 
 
A few years later, Margriet is blossoming into a kind young lady. Keen to escape her mother and strike out on her own, she forms an unlikely friendship with some of the street children who roam the town. 
 
As Margriet acts upon her inspiration to help them, will the troubles of her past break her spirit, or will she be able to overcome them? 
 
If you've liked books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heart-rending stories of triumph over adversity.

An unputdownable historical novel of triumph over adversity from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Winter’s Daughter

With her trademark warmth and powerful characters, Winter's Daughter is a stunning new Victorian saga - about a young child separated from her mother, and the family who bring her in from the cold. 
 
'As always, Val tells it from the heart . . . A stirring story of faith, hope and charity will enthral you' Peterborough Telegraph 
 
Hull, 1856. 
 
James Ripley and his wife Moira have always looked out for the poor of Hull. When, during one stormy night, there is a flood in a nearby cellar - a popular shelter for the homeless - James rushes to help. 
 
Among those rescued is a dark-haired little girl who speaks a language no one can understand. Some say that she came to the cellar with her mother, but no one knows where the mother is now. 
 
Concerned for the child's safety, James is unsure of what to do. Where has the girl's mother disappeared to? And what can be done to help the homeless who have lost the only shelter they knew? 
 
A stunning new story of family, love and the importance of kindness, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Val Wood. 
 
Praise for Val Wood: 
 
'A heart-warming story filled with compelling action' Rosie Goodwin 
'Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson' BBC Radio 4's Front Row 
'Wonderfully fully-fleshed characters are the mainstay of [Val Wood's] stories' Peterborough Telegraph 
'With fully developed characters and a compelling story, it's no wonder the author won the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her debut... A great choice for a book club' Belfast Telegraph

As always, Val tells it from the heart . . . A stirring story of faith, hope and charity will enthral you

'A heart-warming story filled with compelling action'

'With fully developed characters and a compelling story, it's no wonder the author won the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her debut... A great choice for a book club'

Hull, 1856: James Ripley and his wife Moira have always looked out for the poor of Hull. When, during one stormy night, there is a flood in a nearby cellar - a popular shelter for the homeless - James rushes to help. 
 
Among those rescued is a dark-haired little girl who speaks a language no one can understand. Some say that she came to the cellar with her mother, but no one knows where the mother is now. 
 
Concerned for the child's safety, James is unsure of what to do. Where has the girl's mother disappeared to? And what can be done to help the homeless who have lost the only shelter they knew?

Val Wood

It is the late 1850s and a tired woman holding a baby walks from Hull to one of the big houses in Anlaby – the home of the wealthy Rayners. She knocks at the door, and shoves the baby at young James Rayner. The father was ‘young Mr Rayner’, and the mother is dead. Then she vanishes. 
 
The respectable shipping family of Hull are shattered. No one wants to take responsibility for the baby and it is about to be put into an orphanage when Sammi, James’s cousin, decides to take the baby back to her parents’ home on the Holderness coast. James is banished to London, and disaster begins to beset the three branches of the Rayners. 
 
The third novel in The Hungry Tide sequence, this epic, many-faceted story of three related families tells the triumphs and tragedies of their lives, as the whaling industry of Hull begins to decline, and the farmlands and homes continue to slip into the sea.

Val Wood

Books by Val Wood

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