My 26th novel - An Ideal Husband - will be published next year and I hope you'll enjoy meeting the Langford family who have to face more than their fair share of trouble! As Libby tries to piece her life back together, Bess and Elfrida find themselves reliving the past with all its secrets and tragedies. Her eldest daughter, Martha, is sensible and determined - just like her father was - and very much in control of where her life is going.

Like the arrival of Ellis, a long-lost friend from way back, now bringing the fun and spark back into her life. Erica James is the author of twenty-three internationally bestselling novels, with recent Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers including Swallowtail Summer, Coming Home to Island House and, most recently the hardback bestseller, Letters from the Past.I feel I’ve been on a writing journey with Erica as her style developed through her earliest books into something quite special.

Some I felt so much sympathy for and I was so hoping that they wouldn’t sabotage their own chance of happiness. Martha, whom we meet first is the elder of two siblings and is desperately trying for a baby with her husband Tom.As does infertility, which is slightly glossed over in the book – IVF is not the monster the characters assume. At the beginning, there is a lot of distance between the family but by the closing, events have occurred that makes them even stronger as a family unit.

The characters were all well-drawn and most were very relatable and likeable, though a few were not, however, they all had a valuable contribution to make to the story. The central characters are Naomi, a strong and resilient character, widowed after a long marriage to Colin. She and Tom are trying for a baby but things are not going as Martha planned and this is causing a little stress for her. This is a captivating and amazing story about relationships and life, and what mothers will do to protect their children; I enjoyed it from beginning all the way up to the end and found it difficult to put down.Willow is a very empathetic character, gentle, kind and vulnerable and her relationship with Rick is one of the most interesting aspects of this story. In that way it’s quite slow paced, a gentle lumber through the countryside on a warm spring day; the odd cloud blowing up, but subsiding without too much of a chill.

You'll be swept away then brought gently back to harbour in this beautiful portrait of a family and its multigenerational secrets.I thought the author really brought the characters and the beautiful setting to life in such a way I felt like I had travelled to Anchor House as a guest. Biography: Erica James is the author of twenty-three internationally bestselling novels, with recent Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers including Swallowtail Summer, Coming Home to Island House and, most recently the hardback bestseller, Letters from the Past. As a woman the same age as Naomi, it’s she I feel the greatest empathy for, and I must admit that at first I did not take to Martha at all.