Katie Smith, nee St Clair, is a keen amateur genealogist, and has researched her family tree back many generations. When the chance comes to buy the house where her St Clair ancestors had lived for generations, she leaps at it, despite her husband Simon not understanding her obsession with the past.

But the house holds long-buried secrets, and when Katie and her family move in, they begin to discover them. Will Katie ever discover the truth about her heritage?

The Emerald Comb is a novel told in two strands – contemporary and 1840s, in alternating chapters.

 

Published by Carina UK on 22nd September 2014

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Reviews:

“totally worthy of five of my cupcakes, and more. I cannot recommend this book enough!” Lovely Becca was blown away by my book – thank you Becca!

“An edge of your seat read, that is a page turner and gripped me from page one” Jo (Cometbabe) found it hard to put down and gave me 5 stars – thank you Jo!

“What I really liked was the realistic ending” Review on Cheryl M-M’s book blog – thank you Cheryl!

“two stories: one historical, the other contemporary, cleverly interwoven with conflict, mystery and passion… an absorbing read” Thank you Jane Hunt for such a lovely review!

AJ book reviews made it her book of the week, and wrote the sweetest review. Thanks AJ!

“infuriatingly well-written” “an intelligent and refreshingly different read” – high praise from Helen Baggott, thank you!

“beautifully written and left you wanting more. More of everything.” – a lovely review on FeedMeInBooks, thank you!

“probably my Book of the Year so far!” Charlotte enjoyed it a lot, thank you!

“It is one of those books that you get hooked on straight away” Emma couldn’t put id down – thank you Emma!

“if you like books about history, love, genealogy and family stories you will absolutely love this book” – thank you, Librarian Lavender!

The Emerald Comb was reviewed in Estonian! No idea what this review says.

“Hauntingly dramatic with its elegant writing” – good review from DelugedInBooks 

“expert weaving together of two tales” – fellow Carina author Molly Ann Wishlade enjoyed it very much, thanks Molly!

“superbly written with great characterisation” – thank you Karen, at Go Buy The Book!

“an entertaining read” – says Louise, at anintrovertslife – thank you!

Related blog posts and interviews:

Sharon hosted me chatting about how I decided on the title for the book.

Holly interviewed me on publication day!

I’m on the Carina UK blog talking about cream scones. You’ll have to read the blog to find out what the connection is to this publication!

On Della Galton’s blog I talk about finding great names for my characters.

Right here on my own blog is the story of how an obsession with genealogy led to the idea for The Emerald Comb.

I answered 5 quick questions for Sam Tonge including how it feels to be a digital-first author.

On Bridget Whelans’s wonderful blog I talked about my long and winding road towards publication.

On my birthday (27 again, ahem) lovely Wendy Clarke interviewed me on her blog.

Then Ros Gemmell interviewed me three days later. Gosh I am getting around the web!

Fellow Carina author Aurelia B Rowl asked me 20 questions and for some reason I felt the need to talk about the Wombles…

I went down under to be interviewed by fellow Carina author, Rebecca Raisin in which she asked who I’d want to star in a film of The Emerald Comb.

I was interviewed for the RNA blog, talking about my writing journey from short stories to novels.

October Blog Tour

I kick off back on Becca’s blog, I talk about how I find the time to write. Not easy with a head bursting with ideas and a full time job!

Over on FeedMeInBooks I talk about how to follow in Katie’s footsteps and research your own family tree.

How I research the historical parts of my novel is the topic for BooksAndBaby.

And on Emma’s Book Reviews I talk about the importance of great settings and how in Brighton once I got confused between my fiction and reality.