The Water Horse - Tapa blanda

Catherine Carreg has grown up a tomboy, spending her days racing her ponies with Deio, the drover's son, in a small Welsh village. But Catherine is consumed by a longing to escape the monotony of village life and, with Deio's help, runs away to London.

Alone in the unfamiliar bustle of the city, Catherine finds a position in a rest home for sick governesses in Harley Street, run by Miss Florence Nightingale. Then, as the nation is gripped by reports of the war in the Crimea, Catherine volunteers as a nurse - and her life changes beyond all recognition.

Arriving in Scutari, she is pitched into a living nightmare and, against the passion and heroism of one of the most traumatic wars in history, she is forced to grow up quickly and painfully, and learn the hardest lessons of love and war.

Julia Gregson's novel East of the Sun was chosen for the Richard and Judy TV Book Club and became a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK. Previously a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Times, Good Housekeeping, and Rolling Stone in the USA, Julia is married and lives in Monmouth.

To find out more about Julia and her books, visit her website www.juliagregson.net or follow her on Twitter at @juliagregson