A MALVERN author explores her fascination with lighthouses and the British coastline in her third novel.

Based on a true story, Loretta Proctor’s Middle Watch traces the journey of a young girl who was orphaned at birth and adopted by a kind-hearted naval officer.

Seeking sanctuary from his jealous wife and sons she follows her stepfather when he embarks on a life away from his family as a lighthouse keeper in Yorkshire.

From this develops a compelling love story, when she meets the silent and enigmatic son of a lighthouse keeper only for their romance to be cut short by his military service.

Alone on the coast, her stepbrother lures her to sample the delights of London before abandoning her in poverty and to the violence of the city’s back streets, causing her to flee back to the coast in search of her soulmate.

She said: “The story was inspired by a chance conversation over coffee with an orphaned friend whose foster father became a lighthouse keeper.

“The character of the heroine, Bridie, isn’t like her naturally, nor is the subsequent story but such chance moments inspire us.”

The cover of Middle Watch is Flamborough Light in north Yorkshire, around which the most dramatic part of the story centres.

Her latest work follows The Long Shadow and The Crimson Red.

The book has been published by Troubador Publishing, priced £7.99. It is available from the Malvern Book Co-operative in St Ann’s Road and Malvern Hills Art Gallery on Belle Vue Terrace as well as in e-book form from WH Smith, Waterstones and Amazon.

For more information, go to lorettaproctor.co.uk.