Ruth Elwin Harris

Raised by three older sisters, all artists, and educated by their guardian, a rector, lonely Sarah Purcell looks forward to 1920 when she will be old enough to attend Oxford and become a writer.

Sarah's Story

An absorbing family drama - the Little Women of our times.' With the publication of BEYOND THE ORCHID HOUSE, the Quantocks Quartet is complete. This is the story of Gwen, the third of the four Purcell sisters. Unlike the others, she has stayed at home all her life, tending the large Hillcrest garden and pursuing her artistic endeavours. On the surface, it's a life of unruffled calm - a calm behind which Gwen can hide from the hurt and disappointment of her past and avoid the problems of the present. The unexpected - and unwelcome - gift of a collection of orchids is the first event to shatter that calm, followed by the arrival of the volatile Tony, which in turn leads her to accept, against her instincts, an invitation to visit an unknown orchid grower in Germany. It is 1936, the Nazis are in power and, forced beyond the sheltering boundaries of the orchid house, Gwen has to face the tough realities of the modern world... As with the previous three titles, all of which are now being reissued with new covers, BEYOND THE ORCHID HOUSE blends the lives and loves of the sisters with major historic events.

The Silent Shore

Successful landscape artist Frances Purcell, burdened with responsibility for her three younger sisters and their English country home since she was seventeen, fears her art will suffer if she marries the man she has always loved.

Frances' Story

Julia's Story

The Nevill Letters 1914-1916

Billie

Reclusive illustrator and gardener Gwen Purcell's devotion to her nephew and new-found love of orchids draw her from her family's country home to London's gardens and shops and, as Hitler is gaining power, to the German Alps.

Gwen's Story

Sisters of the Quantock Hills is the compelling saga of the lives and loves of four sisters - Frances, Julia, Gwen and Sarah Purcell - and their neighbours, the Mackenzies. Set during the early part of the last century, the series encompasses two World Wars, and the sisters' individual stories are told against the backdrop of major historical events happening at the time. Beautifully written, this acclaimed series is being reissued with stylish, modern covers and is sure to become a favourite with a whole new generation of young readers.

Ruth Elwin Harris

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