Ancasta: Guide Me Swiftly Home (The Riduna Series)

Recently bereaved, and encouraged by family and friends, Harriet decides to open her home to paying guests. Although successful, her business plans come to an abrupt halt at the start of WW1 as each of her grown up family play their part.
Grateful for their company, her daughter Sarah and daughter-in-law Hannah moving back home with their children. Letters bring long awaited news as son Jack joins the aircraft carrier Ben my Chree in Turkey and to his dismay his twin brother Tom finds himself in India. Surprisingly, Sarah’s husband Anthony learns to fly and is the only member of the family to experience the horrors of France. This left Harriet’s eldest son Ernest remaining in Woolston, working as a foreman at the recently opened Supermarine factory, building flying boats vital for the war effort. In fact, it’s not long before Hannah and Sarah join him, to the dismay of Harriet and their husbands.
As this saga unfolds, telling the story of Harriet’s family’s struggle through the war, two people keep her sane, her best friend Jane and her childhood sweetheart Edward, but the underpinning presence of Riduna, (Alderney) the island of Harriet’s birth is forever drawing her home.
The Romans allegedly prayed to Ancasta, the Goddess of the River Itchen, from which this novel flows, prayers echoed by Harriet and her family.