An Unknown Woman

When your life goes up in smoke, you can never go home.
‘A firestorm of a novel. Davis reminds us that families often have secrets at their heart: ticking time bombs just waiting for a stray spark.’ ~ Paul Murphy, Author

Writing Magazine's Independent Fiction Book of the Year 2016. 'Outstanding in every way.'

At the age of forty-six, Anita Hall knows exactly who she is. She has lived with partner Ed for fifteen years and is proud of the life they’ve built. They go out into the world separately: Ed with one eye on the future in the world of finance; Anita with one foot in the past, a curator at Hampton Court Palace. This is the life she's chosen - a dream job, an equal partnership, living in a quirky old house she adores. She is happy. Their foundations are solid and their future seems secure.

But that was before the fire.

Anita stands in the middle of the road watching her home and everything inside it burn to the ground. She and Ed are left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Before she can come to terms with the magnitude of her loss, hairline cracks begin to appear in her perfect relationship. And returning to her childhood home in search of comfort, she stumbles upon her mother’s closely-guarded secret, something so unspeakable it can only be written down.

An emotional and thought-provoking story that examines loss, identity, submerged feelings and deeply buried secrets, An Unknown Woman will have you turning the pages right to the end.

‘For me, one of the books of the year.’ ~ The Bagster ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘An intensely human story that feels ripped from the pages of someone's diary.’ ~ Davida Chazan, Book Blogger ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘Few writers are so adept at capturing their characters’ emotions. Recommended without reservation.’ ~ Book Viral ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

'Jane Davis isn’t just good; she's phenomenally good. Gutsy, powerful and honest in the best tradition of fiction, this is a book worth savoring.' ~ Deborah Hewitt, Author ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘A beautiful writer with a unique voice and this comes through in every word.’ ~ Wendy Jones, Author ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘Davis has a light touch. She writes with subtlety and nuance. And she does that most important of things, something many writers of literary fiction fail to do, she tells a good story.’ ~ Angelia Reads ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Hailed by The Bookseller as 'One to Watch', Jane Davis writes thought-provoking page-turners, exploring a diverse range of subjects, from pioneering female photographers to relatives seeking justice for the victims of a fictional disaster. Interested in how people behave under pressure, Jane introduces her characters when they're in highly volatile situations and then, in her words, throws them to the lions. Expect complex relationships, meaty moral dilemmas and a scattering of dark family secrets!   
 
Her first novel, 'Half-Truths and White Lies', won a national award established by Transworld with the aim of finding the next Joanne Harris. Further recognition followed in 2016 with 'An Unknown Woman' being named Writing Magazine's Self-Published Book of the Year as well as being shortlisted in the IAN Awards. In 2019 'Smash all the Windows', won the inaugural Selfies Book Award. Her novel, 'At the Stroke of Nine O'Clock' was featured by The Lady Magazine as one of their favourite books set in the 1950s and was a Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice.
 
Jane lives in Surrey, in what was originally the ticket office for a Victorian pleasure garden, known locally as 'the gingerbread house'. Her house frequently crops up in her fiction. In fact, she burnt it to the ground in the opening chapter of 'An Unknown Woman' and it is the gardener's cottage in 'Small Eden', a fictionalized account of why one man chose to open a small-scale pleasure garden at a time when London's great pleasure gardens were facing bankruptcy.
 
When she isn't writing, you may spot Jane disappearing up the side of a mountain with a camera in hand.