No rest for the wicked - Wendy Robertson

The old saying is true ... and when the bright lights of the theatre collide with the old values of a small community, the stage is quite literally set for trouble.

In the poverty-stricken years after the First World War, a travelling troupe of players arrives in the small Northern village of Bishop Auckland. Understandably, tensions rise. The players are exotic, foreign, loose. They care nothing for local opinion. Or do they? Is Pippa, the heroine, searching for home? And will she find it in this old-fashioned place where times are hard and you can't run away from your problems by hitting the road again?

Wendy Robertson has written short stories, some journalism and many novels - the latest being Sandie Shaw and the Millionth Marvel Cooker and The Woman Who Drew Buildings - all now available as ebooks. She has built up a substantial following on her blog LIFE TWICE TASTED (www.lifetwicetasted.blogspot.com). It averages 2,500 visitors a month - 33,000 since she started. You can also find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @lifetwicetasted.

'A great storyteller' Northern Echo

'A powerful writer inspired by history, her much-loved home region and her experience of working-class life at its poorest and most difficult' Mail on Sunday

'Skilfully marries faction and fiction into an epic tale that has you turning the pages at high speed to match the pace of this compelling story'
Sunderland Echo