Very pleased to share the news that my second historical novel – A Calamity of Waters – will be published by Deixis Press on 27 August 2026, and is now available for pre-order in hardback or paperback.
I spent some time today up at Coaley Peak, looking over the Severn at the point where the novel begins. It’s impossible to look out over that landscape and that immense river and not think about the adventures you could have in amongst it, and I’m excited to share Habren’s adventure with you.
JANUARY 1607. THE SEVERN VALLEY. THE GREATEST FLOOD IN LIVING MEMORY.
Habren has never quite forgiven herself. Her father only sings bawdy carols for farthings these days, none of the sweet songs he used to sing their mother, and perhaps it’s no wonder her sisters Syble and Margret have put many leagues between themselves and their old home. But then Syble summons her to Gloucester, and if Habren can keep on the right side of their pin merchant master, perhaps it’s the chance she needs to make up for the past.
Then the river rises. In a single January morning, the Severn floods the vale and upends every life in it. And somewhere down that swollen estuary is Ambrose, the man Habren loves.
With Syble and new friend Raynould beside her, Habren sets out for Bristol to find him, through a city the flood has torn apart. And as they search, secrets they have kept close to their hearts begin, one by one, to surface.
A Calamity of Waters is loosely based on the events of the Severn flood of 1607, a cataclysmic events for the communities along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary, in which it is estimated that 2,000 people drowned along with many thousands of heads of livestock. The work of Dr Rose Hewlett is a good place to start in exploring the real life events around the flood.
All of my author profits from the sale of A Calamity of Waters will go to Stroud Valleys Project, a local nature charity.
If you are interested in discussing the book or media opportunities around publication, please get in touch with Deixis Press or via Contact
Chloe Turner 