Michael Taylor

The Novels

Listed here in order of publication are Michael Taylor's novels that have been published to date

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EVE'S DAUGHTER - in Peacock paperback

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0952540452

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Michael's first novel, EVE'S DAUGHTER, published in November 1997 by Peacock Publishing Ltd. introduced the Kite family of Dudley and was enthusiastically received. It was re-released in hardback on 4th April 2002, published By Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, and in Coronet paperback on 5th September 2002.

The story is set in the Black Country from 1902 to 1929 and tells the story of Lizzie Bishop, full of romantic ideals until reality takes its toll of them.

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THE LOVE MATCH

His second novel, THE LOVE MATCH, a sequel to Eve's Daughter, was published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd in October 1999. From March 2000 it has also been available in Coronet paperback.

Due to the demise of Peacock Publishing Ltd, this sequel to 'Eve's Daughter', planned to be entitled 'A Driving Passion', was taken up by Hodder & Stoughton and retitled 'The Love Match'.

The story is set in The Black Country and Birmingham between 1929 and 1936, and is about Lizzie Bishop's eldest daughter, Henzey Kite.

This is the Peacock Publishing original proposed cover design

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LOVE SONGS

Michael's third novel, LOVE SONGS, which completes the trilogy based on the Kite family, was published in hardback 5th October 2000, by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
Paperback 5th April 2001 in Coronet.

Maxine Kite, the youngest daughter of the Kite family is a talented musician. Set in between-wars Birmingham and the Black Country, and New York and Chicago of 1936.

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CLOVER - in Hodder & Stoughton hardback

0340751339

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Michael's fourth novel, CLOVER, was released in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton 6th September 2001. Paperback in Coronet was published early 4th April 2002.

Set against a backdrop of early aviation between 1907 and 1916, this is the story of Clover Beckitt and how radically her life is changed when her widowed mother remarries. Clover finds she has a pretty step-sister and another male relative, both of whom join the family brewing business with surprising consequences.

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HEART'S DESIRE - in Coronet paperback

ISBN 0340818271

Michael's fifth novel, HEART'S DESIRE, was published by Hodder and Stoughton on 5th September 2002. Coronet paperback is due for issue in April 2003.

Set in the 1890s in the Black Country and Italy, Heart's Desire tells Rhianna Drake's astonishing story of love, passion, deceit and a dire quest for unscrupulous revenge.

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POPPY SILK

POPPY SILK is Michael's sixth novel published in hardback 4th April 2003 by Hodder & Stoughton, and in Coronet paperback in October 2003.

The novel is set partly in a railway navvies' encampment, and partly in the drawing rooms of Dudley in the early 1850s, and tells of Poppy Silk's quest to raise herself above the squalor and immorality of the navvies' environment. The book was long-shortlisted, out of 194 entries, for the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year award 2004.

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SALT OF THE EARTH

SALT OF THE EARTH is Michael's seventh novel

Set in Brierley Hill and Bristol between 1856 and 1858, this is the story of Arthur Goodridge and Lucy Piddock, and her antipathy towards him when her head is turned by another handsome face. The story vividly highlights a factual and serious accident that occurred on August Bank Holiday Monday in 1858 on the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.

Published in hardback in October 2004, and Coronet paperback in April 2005.

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CLOSE RELATIONS - in Hodder paperback

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034083059X

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Michael's eighth novel, CLOSE RELATIONS is set in the Black Country of the 1890s

Close Relations tells of the intense romance between Algie Stokes and Marigold Bingham. It is a compelling story of five women and three men and their monumental effect on the lives of Marigold and Algie.

Published in hardback in September 2005, and Coronet paperback in April 2006.

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LINDEN WOODS

Set during the World War II years in rural South Staffordshire and in Eire, LINDEN WOODS is a compulsive tale of love, desire and heartbreak.

In 1937 with the country preparing for war, eighteen-year-old Linden Woods finds employment as a junior secretary at a Black Country steelworks, where she befriends the charismatic and liberated Penny, daughter of wealthy steel magnate Charles Burgayne. While Charles comes to admire Linden’s competence, his sons Edward and Hugh admire her vivacious looks and sharp intellect, and despite the class differences, both vie for her attention but with vastly different methods. Linden grows to love one and despise the other with devastating consequences for everybody, which are severely aggravated because of war.

Published in hardback May 2007 in UK, and August 2007 in USA

Published in paperback April 2008 in UK and USA

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