A Bowdon Romance

In 19th century Bowdon, England, Charlotte was a humble servant whose main care in life was her daughter Tooty. She only ever loved one man – her first husband, Rodney, who died tragically young. After his death she had no choice but to work long hours for the owners of the big houses of the day. It was a hard life for both mother and daughter, but it gave her a perspective on history as she saw the world changing before her eyes and class barriers and prejudices beginning to dissolve.

When a series of terrible crimes come to light, Charlotte begins to wonder if her new friend David is somehow mixed up in them. Fate places her in a unique position to understand what has really been happening and who is responsible.

A Bowdon Romance weaves the thread of local history into a fascinating portrait of life as it must have been in 19th century England.

This is the second book by Alice Frank. Also published is 'A Dangerous Obsession' which tells how for more than two years, Rose Elders and her daughter Elizabeth were hounded, bullied and intimidated almost to the point of madness, all because certain junior public servants misused their power, while senior ones who could have stopped it failed to use theirs as they should have. It all started when Elizabeth found she was being stalked by a well-known local misfit who was clearly trying to gain power over the women in order to get his hands on their money. He made a trumped-up claim to the local Social Services mental health team that Elizabeth was abusing her mother, and when Elizabeth complained that he was stalking her he accused her of libel. Then the social worker who had appointed herself to handle the case, for perverted reasons of her own, decided to take the stalker's side and set out to have Elizabeth certified. Fortunately, her attempts were thwarted by doctors who knew better, but this did not prevent her from making the Elders life hell for two years. The author has written A Dangerous Obsession, based on a true story, to show how open to abuse UK mental health legislation is.