THERE have been 34 years between the publication of Alison Harrop's first and second novels – and seven centuries between the settings.

Alison won a prestigious Betty Task Award for her first novel Instead Of Eden after it was released by leading publisher WH Allen in 1986.

She then worked for more than 20 years as a medical doctor in the Wirral and North Wales before spending seven years writing the follow-up The Mortimer Affair.

The new novel, published under her pen name of Alice Mitchell, puts forward an alternative theory for the death of Edward II who was allegedly murdered at Berkeley Castle in 1327.

The Mortimer Affair – subtitled Joan de Joinville’s Story – is described as an intriguing account of events leading up to the deposition of King Edward II and his alleged murder at Berkeley Castle in 1327.

Alison was born in Keighley and grew up in East Morton, becoming head girl of Bingley Grammar School before training to be a doctor.

She adopted her maiden name of Mitchell and her paternal grandmother's name of Alice as a pen-name when writing. Following the death of her husband she moved back to Keighley just before lockdown this year, settling in Oakworth.

Alison admitted it had been a long gap between the two novels.

She said: “Although I wrote several shorter pieces during my time as a GP, it’s only since retirement that I have been able to focus on this new novel.

"Whereas my first novel was set in the 1960s and 1970s, the period in which I grew up, The Mortimer Affair is set in the 14th century, necessitated a great deal of historical research, and has taken me seven years to complete."

For many years it has been alleged that Edward II was murdered by red hot poker whilst a prisoner in Berkeley Castle.

But Alison said: "So much of what we know as history was originally written by the victors in any conflict. So ‘alleged’ is an appropriate word because this is probably not what happened.

"I have developed an alternative possibility and you will have to read the book to find out more!

“Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, was certainly accused of ordering the murder of King Edward II, becoming the lover of Queen Isabella and the power behind the throne of England for four years, during the minority of young King Edward III.

"Yet in later years Edward III declared that the accusation of regicide had been made in error, so what did he know, and why has this never been revealed?”

Alison’s novel is told through the eyes of Joan de Joinville, he was married at the age of 15 to Roger Mortimer.

Alison added: “Joan was an intelligent, literate noblewoman who had taken no part in her husband’s earlier rebellion against Edward II but was nevertheless subsequently imprisoned for five years by King Edward, first in Hampshire, and later in Skipton Castle.

"Joan is deeply involved in the entire saga as an onlooker. She endured much hardship and humiliation, but found the courage to survive it all; she must have been a very strong woman.”

The Mortimer Family held lands in Ireland as well as in the Welsh Marches, the border country, so the novel ranges from Wales to Ireland, Scotland and France, and covers a great deal of medieval warfare, including the Battle of Bannockburn (1314), as well as political intrigue.

But as Alison says, the novel is truly Joan's story.

“Joan bore her husband Roger Mortimer 12 living children and I particularly enjoyed exploring Joan’s relationships with those children, and the political changes which develop the actions and characters of the leading players."

The ancestors of Roger and Joan eventually married into two separate family lines, which subsequently led in the following century to the Yorkist claim to the English throne and to the monarchies of Edward IV and Richard III.

The Mortimer Affair is available from YouCaxton Publications and Amazon at £12.99. Visit alicemitchell.co.uk for other works by the author.