Harrogate mum’s stunning novel inspired by family tragedy and a chance discovery

Jackie Wallis’s Finding Rosamond has won five star ratings for the way she skilfully weaves together the story of a real-life young woman’s life from 1835 and her own life in present-day Harrogate.

Published by The Conrad Press, the enlightening and moving book is part novel and part memoir and has been acclaimed on Amazon by readers and shoppers alike.

The story of how Bilton-based Jackie came to write the book starts with the discovery of a rare, almost indecipherable pocket-size diary in a Harrogate antiquarian bookshop.

The young woman’s handwritten diary from 1835 led Jackie on her own personal journey while unravelling, and imagining, the secrets hidden within its tiny pages.

The story unfolds during the reign of William IV, in a tiny hamlet near Aylesford in Kent, as Rosamond introduces us to her family and social life, confiding her loves, losses and ultimate fears.

Having taken a magnifying glass to scan the diary’s contents, the success of Finding Rosamond lies not only in the way Jackie transports readers to the late Georgian period.

This stunning novel also tells us how Jackie’s own life was affected within her own family in Harrogate as she deals with loss, grief, discovery and happiness following the loss of her daughter, Allison.

Consoled by the diary entries of a young lady who died nearly two centuries ago came, the discovery of the diary came to Jackie's spiritual and emotional rescue.

So impressive is Jackie’s writing in the aftermath of such personal trauma, one reviewer wrote: "Jackie’s personal chapters were written with such openness and feeling.

"Her own story of struggles and loss was deeply moving.”

Hailing from a uniquely creative Harrogate family, writing isn't Jackie's only talent.

The mother of Harrogate actress and singer Lucy Mizen, is also a gifted artist, as is Lucy's father Mike Wallis.

Finding Rosamond by Jackie Wallison on Conrad Press is available on Amazon and most book-related websites.