Deryn Lake Book Launch at the Pan Bookshop, Fulham, London June 2005

Deryn Lake is best known for her historical series featuring John Rawlings but did you know that at the start of her career she wrote “bodice rippers” under her real name of Dinah Lampitt? And gained quite a reputation for them as well. She returns to this territory with The Governor’s Ladies, her first non-Rawlings in almost twelve years. The novel is set at the outbreak of the American War of Independence and primarily concerns Thomas Gage, his wife Margaret and his slave girl, Sara. Geoffrey Bailey, who once ran Crime in Store, is now the manager of the bookshop and hosted the event, making it a very enjoyable evening for those friends, publishers and family who turned out to support Deryn and her new book.