Mollie Walton

Mollie Walton is an author of historical saga novels. She also writes historical fiction as Rebecca Mascull and romcoms as Harper Ford. Her first trilogy as Mollie Walton is The Ironbridge Trilogy. The first book in the series is set in the dangerous world of the iron industry: THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE. The second book in the trilogy is THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE, set in the brickyards of the 1850s. The third book is set in the coalmines and servants’ quarters of the 1870s: THE ORPHAN OF IRONBRIDGE, all three published by Bonnier Zaffre. Her most recent saga series is The Raven Hall Saga, set during WW2 in North Yorkshire. The first book A MOTHER’S WAR came out in 2022 and its sequel A DAUGHTER’S GIFT came out in 2023, published by Welbeck. The series follows the Calvert-Lazenby family of a mother and five daughters living through wartime at home and further afield. Four more books are expected in the series.

Current publication: 

THE ORPHAN OF IRONBRIDGE (Saga 3) - Bonnier Zaffre - 15 April 2021

Shropshire, 1875.

Hettie Jones has grown up in Ironbridge. She has never known her father and, since her mother's death, has been brought up by the Malone family, who treat her as one of their own. She works as a pit girl at the local coal mine, alongside her childhood playfellow, Evan - although lately, their friendship seems to be blossoming into something more.

But when Queenie King takes a fancy to her, Hettie's life is transformed. Trained first as a lady's maid, and then hurtled into a world of luxury and gentility, she finds her new position difficult to reconcile with her past life. And with Queenie's daughter-in-law scheming against her, Hettie's situation becomes dire.

Can Hettie really use her new position for good, and will she find a way to bridge the divide between rich and poor?

Previous publication: 

THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE ( Saga 2) - Bonnier Zaffre - 30 April 2020

1850s Shropshire.

Returning to her mother's birthplace at the age of eighteen, Beatrice Ashford encounters a complex family she barely knows. Her great-grandmother Queenie adores her, but the privileged social position of Beatrice's family as masters of the local brickworks begins to make her uncomfortable.

And then she meets Owen Malone: handsome, different, refreshing - and from a class beneath her own. They fall for each other fast, but an old family feud and growing industrial unrest threatens to drive them apart.

Can they overcome their different backgrounds? And can Beatrice make amends for her family's past?

A dramatic and heartwarming saga for fans of Maggie Hope and Anne Bennett.

Praise for THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE (Saga 1 2019);

'Evocative, dramatic and hugely compelling . . . The Daughters of Ironbridge has all the hallmarks of a classic saga. I loved it' Miranda Dickinson

'Feisty female characters, an atmospheric setting and a spell-binding storyline make this a phenomenal read' Cathy Bramley

'The Daughters of Ironbridge has that compulsive, page-turning quality, irresistible characters the reader gets hugely invested in, and Walton has created a brilliantly alive, vivid and breathing world in Ironbridge' Louisa Treger

'Such great characters who will stay with me for a long time' Beth Miller

'The attention to period detail and beautiful writing drew me right in and kept me reading' Lynne Francis

'Vivid, page-turning drama' Pippa Beecheno

'A powerful sense of place and period, compelling characters and a pacy plot had me racing to the end' Gill Paul

'A story that is vivid, twisting and pacy, with characters that absolutely leap off the page' Iona Grey