A #HistFic Book Spotlight | “Lady of the Quay” (Isabella Gillhespy series, Book One) by Amanda Roberts

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might be curious where I have been since Wyrd And Wonder concluded – as I had high hopes of getting a lot of wickedly delightful posts ready to share with everyone in the final weeks and days of May. Instead, I was overly exhausted by my Mum’s medical crisis that month and had to let the time run down off the clock and simply rest. I also changed my hours at work for the Summer to have more downtime and to recover my own health and wellness. Meanwhilst, our family was not quite prepared for another medical emergency in the family on the 7th of June. I’ll be sharing the details of that ordeal in another post over the weekend, however, for now, I am celebrating the discovery of this lovely novel and a #newtomeauthor by the pen of Amanda Roberts!

The fantastical stories will be forthcoming this month and over the rest of Summer, don’t worry but for now, I’d like to focus on my JOY and passion for Historical Fiction which has been quite the benchmark of focus on Jorie Loves A Story inasmuch as Fantasy and Science Fiction these past twelve years I’ve been a book blogger. It is the journey of time and feeling as if I’ve had the pleasure of becoming a time traveller through History which benefits me the most by the stories Historical Fiction authors create and develop through their keen eye for detail and their historical nuances of life as it once had been lived in their stories.

What drew my eye into “Lady of the Quay” was the premise of it – a woman who is not only fighting for her right to live but for the innocence she has to prove in order to stay free. I read a bit of a sampling of the story and came to appreciate how the tone of the story was writ. I wish this weren’t a digital first release – as I would be wicked thrilled to read the novel in full via a print edition as I cannot read digitally as most of my followers and bookish friends realise by now.

I happen to have a penchant of interest for these kinds of stories too. Where someone has something to prove and has to set their own mind to righting their own stars into a destiny of their own making. I love the unpredictability of these stories – and how it takes not just raw courage and strength of mind and heart but true grit to rise above circumstances and an unjust pursuit against your own character. I want to take this journey and fall in step with Roberts’ vision of her characters’ adventure. Knowing this is going to be a series is even more brilliant and I shall be cheering from the sidelines this will eventually go into print!

Plus, can we take a moment to appreciate the arrangement of the cover art illustration? I love book covers which either have a hidden message within them or creatively use visual images to convey a message of their own. This one was a bit of a collage effect, and it left a lasting impression. 

Lady of the Quay
Subtitle: Isabella Gillhespy series, Book One : Secrets are Dangerous
by Amanda Roberts

Knowing she is innocent is easy … proving it is hard

1560, Berwick-upon-Tweed, northern England

Following the unexpected death of her father, a series of startling discoveries about the business she inherits forces Isabella Gillhespy to re-evaluate everything she understands about her past and expects from her future. Facing financial ruin, let down by people on whom she thought she could rely, and suspected of crimes that threaten her freedom, Isabella struggles to prove her innocence.

But the stakes are even higher than she realises. In a town where tension between England and her Scottish neighbours is never far from the surface, it isn’t long before developments attract the interest of the highest authority in the land, Sir William Cecil, and soon Isabella is fighting, not just for her freedom, but her life. She must use her wits and trust her own instincts to survive.

Lady of the Quay introduces an enticing new heroine who refuses to be beaten, even as it becomes clear that her life will never be the same again.

From the author of the award-winning ‘The Woman in the Painting’.

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Published by Hickory Press

on 22nd April, 2025

Available Formats: Digital First Release

Converse via: #CoffeePotBookClub, #HistoricalFiction
#HistFic, #IsabellaGillhespySeries and/or #WomensFiction

About Amanda Roberts

Amanda Roberts has worked as an Editor in business-to-business magazines for over 30 years, specialising in out-of-home coffee, vending and foodservice/catering, including Editor of the global gastronomy title: ‘Revue internationale de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs’.

She currently freelances, editing UK-based healthcare titles – HEFMA Pulse, Hospital Food + Service and Hospital Caterer. She is a member of the Society of Authors, the Historical Novel Society and West Oxfordshire Writers. She also volunteers for Tea Books (part of Age UK) to run a book club/reading group for elderly people in the community.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | BookBub | LibraryThing

Enjoy this small extract from the novel:

I felt so dearly locked into this scene and the emotional state of the character as she described this most unsavoury encounter! You can feel what she’s feeling in the height of that moment – how wrenching it was for the snowball to lose its grip on traction and succumb to gravity instead – falling short of its intended target. Sometimes, there are no words or actions to express oneself in a moment like this – where you feel yourself lost betwixt and between doing something and feeling as if time had stopped a bit for you – where everything was just a bit of a swirl of emotional unrest. 

The Virtual Road Map
for “Lady of the Quay” can be found here:

I enjoy hosting for The Coffee Pot Book Club – a touring company who champions Historical Fiction and connects readers to the writers:

See what I am hosting next on my Bookish Events page!

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