In 1939, Norma knows what the world does to women in her position. Pregnant, unmarried… abandoned. And when the man who promised to marry her is arrested for murder, she has only one option left: run.
A borrowed wedding ring. A fake name. A one-way ticket to Wales. Mrs Finch never existed before that train journey, but now she’s Norma’s only chance at survival.
The remote valley of Pontybrenin should be her hiding place. Instead, even as the world teeters on the brink of war, it becomes the first place Norma’s ever felt seen.
Billeted with a stern church minister and his family, she finds friendship, family and a love that makes her want to stop running.
But every day she stays is another day someone might discover who she really is.
And as she falls deeper into this life – and this love – Norma will have to choose between the truth that could destroy her and the lies that are slowly suffocating the person she’s becoming.
Before the Mountain Falls by Luisa A Jones is published on 19 March, 2026.
Read her feature about the tragic event that inspired her novel.
If you enjoy historical fiction, there’s plenty more in Historia’s round-up of more than 130 books coming out in 2026.
