A local author will be promoting her new novel at an event at Cowbridge Library on the evening of Wednesday, April 6.

Vivien Freeman, who lives in the Vale of Glamorgan, will be reading excerpts from The Testing of Rose Alleyn, set in May 1900 about a girl who escapes her home in the rural countryside after her mother's death during her twentieth pregnancy.

After this, she decides to never marry and runs off to the market town of Widdock to work in a bookshop and escape the same fate as her siblings.

She forms close friendships with other women at the hostel where she lives. But a deeper connection with her employer, Leonard Pritchard, brings back fears about the reality of women's lives, then trouble arises.

Melanie Weeks, a senior librarian at Cowbridge Library, told Nub News: "The person that's published Vivian's book used to come to one of Cowbridge Library's reading groups. Before COVID, there was a whole programme of author events, so this one coming up will be the launch of a new programme of author events.

"We're thrilled to be supporting local authors once again."

The book will be published by 186Publishing. Vivien has previously written The Escape of Rose Alleyn and The Temptation of Rose Alleyn based on the same character.

The event will run from 18:00 – 19:00 and will also mark the beginning of Cowbridge Library opening until 19:00 on Wednesday evenings, a time that was in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's free to attend but booking is required. Call Cowbridge Library on 01446 773941. People will also have a chance to buy the book and ask Vivien any questions.