Our press officer, Angela Lawrence, has recently published her first novel, ‘Rumour’. It is set in Suffolk during the First World War and is based on a true story. It tells the story of a village schoolmaster and his wife who become caught up in a spy scandal at the start of the war, simply because they have friends in Germany. Shortly after war is declared, in August 1914, British warships patrolling the North Sea fall victim to German mines and torpedoes. When the dead and injured are brought ashore at Shotley, close to the schoolmaster’s village, rumours quickly spread that spies are at work along the Suffolk coast, signalling to enemy ships. The local newspaper, the East Anglian Daily Times, fuels the rumours and soon the population is gripped by spy hysteria. ‘Rumour’ reveals a rural society torn apart by the conflict and how an honourable man is betrayed by those he trusted.

Published by Sandlings Press, The Shipway, Mallard Way, Hollesley, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3QJ. email: lawrenceac@aol.com. Available from the publishers price £12.99 (or by post at reduced price of £11.99 plus p&p £2.50. Cheques to A.C. Lawrence at the above address.

Also available from: Magpie Books in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe; Halesworth Books in Halesworth, Aldeburgh Bookshop in High Street, Aldeburgh, Orwell Books in Southwold or Woodbridge Books, The Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. All these booksellers can order it for you.

‘Rumour’ is also available from any Suffolk library.