Historical mystery/thriller, Lady of the Quay, by Islip resident Amanda Roberts has won a Bronze Medal in The Coffee Pot Book Club’s Book of the Year 2025 Awards in The Tudors & The Stuarts category.
The Coffee Pot Book Club promotes historical fiction. Its Book of the Year Awards is an international contest, with Gold, Silver and Bronze, plus an Honorary Medal award available across 21 categories. Books are judged by reviewers, authors and professional bloggers.
Set in the English/Scottish border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1560, during the early years of the reign of Elizabeth 1, Lady of the Quay follows the story of Isabella Gillhespy, the only daughter of a wealthy merchant, who, when her father dies unexpectedly, discovers her inheritance is far from what she had envisaged.
Whilst Isabella and her story are fictional, both the setting of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the political intrigue of the early Elizabethan period are meticulously recreated, through extensive research, to provide an authentic backdrop to the narrative.
Lady of the Quay is the first of a new series featuring Isabella Gillhespy.
This is the second time a novel by Amanda Roberts has been recognised by The Coffee Pot Book Club. In 2023, The Woman in the Painting, set in the Oxfordshire village of Islip in 1645 and 2019, was awarded a Silver Medal in the Time Travel/Time-Slip/Dual Timeline category.
Lady of the Quay is available in paperback and Kindle version. It can be ordered from any bookshop, Amazon, or the author’s own website: www.amandarobertsauthor.co.uk
About Lady of the Quay
Following the unexpected death of her father, a series of startling discoveries about the business she inherits forces Isabella Gillhespy to re-evaluate everything she understands about her past and expects from her future.
Facing financial ruin, let down by people on whom she thought she could rely, and suspected of crimes that threaten her freedom, Isabella struggles to prove her innocence.
But the stakes are even higher than she realises. In a town where tension between England and her Scottish neighbours is never far from the surface, it isn’t long before developments attract the interest of the highest authority in the land, Sir William Cecil, and soon Isabella is fighting, not just for her freedom, but her life. She must use her wits and trust her own instincts to survive.
Lady of the Quay introduces an enticing new heroine who refuses to be beaten, even as it becomes clear that her life will never be the same again.
About the Author
Amanda Roberts has worked in business-to-business magazine publishing as an editor for more than 35 years specialising in out-of-home coffee, vending, foodservice, catering and healthcare sectors. She is a member of the Society of Authors, the Historical Novel Society, West Oxfordshire Writers and Oxfordshire Independent Authors (OxIA). She co-organised the recent WolvLitFest with fellow OxIA member, Steve Lunn. Amanda also volunteers for Tea Books (part of Age UK) to run a book club/reading group for elderly people in the community. A resident of Oxfordshire for nearly 30 years, Amanda has lived in Islip for the last 20 of those.
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