A WRITER’S touching novel on a child’s life following the Blitz of Coventry will soon be hitting the shelves.

Author Glynis Peters, of Dovercourt, will be releasing the paperback version of The Secret Orphan at the end of this month.

The book follows the story of six-year-old Rose Sherbourne, who finds herself orphaned after Nazi bombs fall during the Blitz of Coventry.

Rose ends up in the guardianship of a Cornish farmer’s daughter Elenor Cardew.

Elenor knows the only way to protect Rose is to leave the city, but she discovers Hitler’s war is not the only thing she should fear when she learns a devastating secret about Rose.

With the little girl’s life in danger, Elenor turns to a heroic Canadian pilot who she trusts can keep the deadly secret.

Glynis, whose real last name is Smy, said: “The book is set during the Second World War and it’s a story about a young woman and child who came together through dire circumstances.”

Glynis was born and raised in Dovercourt, left to become a nursed, married and had children, then returned to the town five years ago.

She has been a self-published author for 11 years, but in 2017 she was approached by the editorial director of HarperCollins with a title for a book.

The 61-year-old said she wrote the novel in just eight weeks and it was ready to be published by HarperCollins.

Glynis said: “My other books have been Victorian Romance novels and there is always a twist.

“I have self published five of that genre.”

The Secret Orphan was released as an e-book in November and has already gone into the top 500 e-books in the United States.

Glynis said: “I am still in shock the e-book has done so well.

“I am also in the top 100 listing for historical romance authors in the United States.”

The grandmother’s next step as an author will be to represent the book and Dovercourt in the Essex Book Festival in March.

The Secret Orphan’s paperback release is on Thursday, January 24 in the UK and in Australia on January 29. It was released in Canada last year.