In Pontypridd, in 1939, blackouts and conscription are beginning to strain the community. And three women are separated—perhaps forever—from the men they love. Jenny Powell's husband, Eddie, abandoned her on her wedding night, and she must struggle to cope alone. Italian Tina Ronconi's sweetheart enlists, and she and her sister face internment as enemy aliens. And Bethan's doctor husband is called up, leaving her, along with all the women, with endless worry and fear. Forced to adjust to a world at all, all they can do is wait. Then comes news of the Allies' retreat at Dunkirk and, for many, life will never be the same again.
CATRIN COLLIER/KATHERINE JOHN/CARO FRENCH/KATHERINE HARDY -
My most bemused moment. When someone commented, "It will be wonderful for Pontypridd when you die." (Many of my novels are set in the town)
My best "putting in place moment". When someone joined a queue at a signing session in Waterstones and waited ten minutes to say, "I don't want a book, love, but as you're here for two hours, look after my shopping for me." - I did.
My proudest moment, when I discovered my Catrin Collier novel, One Last Summer, based on my Prussian born mother's wartime diaries was named recommended reading for adults by the Holocaust Day Memorial Trust.
My new novel, Bobby's Girl, set in America during in 1968 - the era of the anti-Vietnam War and, Civil Rights movements and student protests will be published in the autumn of 2011.
