New Novel from Village Author

Local village author Sally Winter is celebrating the recent publication of her novel “Rhubarbs and Circuses”.

The story is a dark, mind-bending drama about greed, passion and loss: set between modern day London and World War 2.

Sally, from Milford on Sea, spent seven years writing the novel, which is based on the exploits of the little-known female Air Transport Auxiliary pilots (ATA Girls) who flew all types of military aircraft including Spitfires and Lancaster bombers between air bases during WW2. These girls, some as young as 21 were tasked with flying alone, in all weathers, with no navigation systems, radio or armaments to ferry the aircraft the length and breadth of Britain as part of the war effort.

During her research and development stage, Sally met and interviewed two of the few remaining ATA Girls - Mary Ellis and Joy Lofthouse, both now well into their 90’s who were happy to talk about their adventures. It is hoped that one of them may be able to attend the book launch.

Commented Sally “Meeting these plucky ladies was a humbling experience which made me even more determined to have their story told whilst they are still with us. Their selfless bravery has for the most part been overshadowed by the glamour of the RAF and forgotten until very recently. I hope that this novel serves as a fitting tribute to their valiant part of the war effort.

Since writing the novel, Sally has attracted the full support of the RAF who are assisting her efforts to develop the story into a feature film. A screenplay has already been written from the novel and Sally is meeting with a film producer this month, so watch this space for updates.

• “Rhubarbs and Circuses” is available as a kindle download from Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/morajom, and also as an early-edition signed paperback direct from Sally via sally@rhubarbsandcircuses.com

• “Rhubarbs and Circuses” were two RAF terms used during WW2 to denote certain types of tactical operation.

• More information about the ATA can be found at the official museum website www.atamuseum.org.