1918: Freddie was destined for a different life, determined to make his fortune in the plantations of Ceylon. But just as the great war comes to an end, the eldest brother and heir to Coombe Hall, Edward, doesn’t return. Torn between duty and freedom, Freddie must now sacrifice his own dreams to keep the estate […]
Researching rural Devon in the 1920s and 1930s
You’d think setting your interwar years novel where you live, in rural Devon, would make research easier. Not necessarily so, as Vanessa de Haan found out; the lives of ordinary people in the 1920s and 1930s hadn’t seemed worth recording. Walking the country lanes and talking to people was an important part of her research, […]
A Time to Live by Vanessa de Haan
Freddie was destined for a different life, determined to make his fortune in the plantations of Ceylon. But in 1918, just as the Great War comes to an end, Edward, the eldest brother and heir to Coombe Hall, doesn’t return. Torn between duty and freedom, Freddie must now sacrifice his own dreams to keep the […]



