Bellesauvage

About the Book

In the hierarchal structure that pervaded a stately home in England in the 1930s, a poverty-stricken maid, Jane Hennessey, extorts money from her employer, Lady Caroline Melchester. Caroline’s affair with her employee, Ashley Brownlow, has consequences that changes lives forever. Charlotte’s last words implore her brother Ashley to reconcile with Lady Caroline. His grief obscures her words because his lover’s apathy hastened his beloved sister’s death. At the outbreak of World War Two, with his life in turmoil, he enlists in the British army in the first regiment to fight the Germans on French soil. His resentment fuels his patriotic fervour in a fierce battle to the death. By coincidence, he meets his lover’s twin sons, who are also part of the pioneering British forces. Their fates are intertwined in the fight for survival on the beaches of Dunkirk.

On the outskirts of Paris, Lady Caroline’s brother, Jean-Pierre, has his chateau confiscated by the occupying German army. As he escapes to England, his servants face oblivion and transportation to the death camp of Auschwitz.

Caroline’s former husband, Baron Grosvenor, suffers potential ruin as his new wife exacts revenge for his criminal past.

Meanwhile, Jane Hennessey confesses her former misdeeds. Her political convictions provide rehabilitation for herself and redemption for Lady Caroline.

About the Author

Alan Brookes was born in a coalmining village in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, in the midlands of England. He began his working life at the age of fifteen in an underground coalmine before qualifying as a land surveyor. He later became a teacher and a master of philosophy at Birmingham University. Before becoming an author, Alan achieved chief examiner posts with several English university examination boards.

Apart from writing, his lifelong passion is playing the euphonium on the unique English brass band scene. From humble beginnings as a boy in the local colliery band, Alan has played in various musical ensembles across Europe.

Alan has written and published eight nonfiction books on the history of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. Bellesauvage is his first published work of fiction, which incorporates many of the historical events seen in his previous novels. He divides his time between his homes in Cannock, Staffordshire, and the Loire Valley in France.