My latest novel is based on the Sack of Baltimore, which took place in 1631, when Algerian corsairs sailed to Cork, Ireland, and captured almost all the inhabitants of a settlement of English Calvinists on the shores of Roaringwater Bay. They had come to Ireland to practise their religion freely and engage in the pilchard trade. Instead, they were sold as slaves on the Barbary Coast. We know very little about their fate, but you can still come across Algerians today with red hair, freckles, and fair skin who might be their descendants. This is the story of some of them. Find out more in my book, coming soon!

The Giants Look Down

At the age of ten, Jaya Vaidya decides she wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father and become a doctor, much to the chagrin of her traditional mother and the patriarchal community she lives in.

Published by Robert Hale, 2016.

Dreamtime’s Legacy

My short story Dreamtime’s Legacy has been published in the Stories for Homes Anthology in aid of Shelter. Once again I didn’t want to write about anything too close to home so I thought Australia would be perfect. This one’s about an aborigine called Moqo and Dreamtime, an era when the spirits gave his people their land. As the holder of a thousand-year secret Moqo knows a place no white has ever set foot in. At the very heart of his homeland and his culture, he must never disclose this treasure at any cost.

Unheard of

My short story ‘Unheard of’ which takes place on a small island off the West Coast of Ireland made the longlist for the Insomnia short story competition at Retreat West.