When I began drafting the concept of The Enchanted Cove, back in 2014, as soon as the character of the slightly eccentric artist aunt came to mind there was only one woman who could be my inspiration for her— Dame Laura Knight. Originally the profession of the children's Great Aunt simply provided me with a stylistic vehicle to allow the story to be set in Cornwall, at the Enchanted Cove; much as the evacuation of the Pevensie to stay with the old professor in C.S. Lewis' The

It was a typically grey, mid winter afternoon in Edwardian London. Icy rain had begun to fall, forming dark shapes on the pavement. Ladies in long skirts opened umbrellas and smartly dressed gentlemen in hats and heavy overcoats hurried from door to door, avoiding the rain and the chill gusts of wind that swirled about the tall red brick houses. Amongst this crowd of Londoners was a small group of children returning from school. George, a sturdy dark haired boy, rushed ahead