A best-selling author has released her next novel set in a fictional Worcestershire village that is an “uplifting story about the power of community”.

The Women Who Wouldn't Leave by Victoria Scott tells the story of Connie Darke, who is trying to run away from the traumas in her past, and is led back home to the small rural council estate she left almost 20 years earlier.

Matilda Reynolds has spent most of her long life in the Worcestershire village of Stonecastle, and she’s content there, with her animals and her solitude.

Until a fall lands her in hospital, and Matilda has to turn to her strange young neighbour Connie for help looking after her home.

Out of their tentative arrangement, each woman gains a new sense of community.

Victoria, whose debut novel, 'Patience', was a Booksellers’ Association Book of the Month, grew up in nearby Castlemorton and attended Malvern Girls’ College (now Malvern St James’).

She explained: "Stonecastle could be any village in rural Worcestershire, really. I grew up in one such village and have always valued the community there - people really do help each other out. I wanted to capture that in The Women Who Wouldn't Leave.

"I have always loved that Ambridge (in The Archers) was inspired by where I grew up, so it felt very natural (and fun) to name some of the animals in the book after my favourite Archers characters. For example, there are two goats called Clarrie and Eddie.

Victoria continued: "Matilda and Connie in The Women Who Wouldn't Leave are outwardly very different, and there is a huge age gap between them. However, as the story progresses they discover they have more in common than they think.

"They are both nursing secrets and hurt. Feeling their friendship blossom on the page was such a joy.

"The Women Who Wouldn't Leave is a heartwarming, uplifting story about friendship, the power of community and why you should always fight for what you believe in. I think that's a message we all need at the moment."

Victoria's first novel Patience was a LoveReading Debut of the Month and Book Club Recommendation.

The Women Who Wouldn't Leave will be released today (August 3).

To find out more about Victoria’s novels, visit www.toryscott.com / twitter @toryscott / instagram @victoriascottauthor