Award-winning author Georgina Moore’s second novel is set around her home on the River Thames.
Her houseboat is moored at Tagg’s Island a little upstream from East Molesey and Hampton Court.
The island is named after Royal Waterman Tom Tagg who ran a boatyard and hotel there in the 19th century. It was originally Walnut Tree Island which is the name of the island in the novel River of Stars published by HarperC0llins (£16.99).
The fictional Walnut Tree Island is a fusion of downstream Eel Pie Island, opposite Ham House, and Tagg’s Island.
Both islands had hotels but it was Eel Pie’s where the pop concerts were staged which feature in the opening. The toll bridge is also borrowed from that island.
Garrick’s Temple with its squelchy lawn, making an early appearance, is nearer Tagg’s.
There is a vital map of the reimagined Thames which will help readers who might be confused by knowing the real river well.
This is a story of love and generations which starts in the 1960s when the Thames Path was only a dream.