The Chains of Fate is her second book, and the sequel to her first, The Moon in the Water, also published by Pan. She went to the University of Sussex, and taught in Hertfordshire. Pamela Belle was born and raised in Suffolk, the daughter of a local prep school headmaster. 'An outstanding historical novelist, Belle now adds another volume to her impressively researched and crafted series set during the English Civil Wars' - Publishers Weekly Pamela Belle's best book so far' - Rosemary Sutcliff 'A lovely warm tapestry of a book, weaving together suspense and drama with a bittersweet love story and a richly detailed account of life in an English Manor House during the Civil War. who can conjure up a period of history so that we can smell, hear and see it' - Sarah Harrison, author of The Flowers of the Field The Chains of Fate is a heart wrenching tale of enduring love, loyalty and betrayal. Leaving her newborn baby and her husband to find the man she loves, Thomazine sets out to find Francis, certain of their enduring love. Thomazine knows she could never love her husband, but what other choice does she have with Francis dead?īut soon fate intervenes and the truth reaches her. Years later, after learning of Francis's death, Thomazine is married to her cousin Sir Dominic Drakelon, a union that was already decided when she was a small child. She plans to write a book about Alfred the Great if she can fit it in between looking after the children, dogs, cats and husband.Sent to live with Sir Simon Heron, she fell in love with his son, Francis. Belle gave up teaching in 1985 to spend more time researching and writing. 'The Moon in the Water' and its two sequels were published in the UK and the USA with considerable success.

Eventually the agent Vivienne Schuster was wonderfully enthusiastic about it and found a publisher. Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Belle drew up a huge family tree and a plan of the house very like Rushbrooke. Over the next few years 'The Epic', as it became known, grew and grew. She wrote her first book at the age of twelve and having visited the site of a lovely Elizabethan manor house called Rushbrooke and observing the bare, moated island which was all that was left, she wanted to bring Rushbrooke back and chose to do so in print. As a child the books she read were adventure stories like 'Treasure Island,' 'Swallows and Amazons,' and the novels of John Buchan and CS Forester. Belle, who also writes contemporary fiction as Alice Marlow, always wanted to be an author.

The Moon in the Water by Pamela Belle