Author thanks fans for their loyal support

Best-selling author Margaret Dickinson returns to Newark on Saturday to meet and thank her fans for their support and sign copies of her latest book.

he Clippie Girls is her 20th novel with Pan Macmillan and is a heart-warming romance. It tells of two sisters working as clippies on the trams in wartime Sheffield.

Peggy Sylvester, a beautiful young conductress has a close friendship with her affable tram driver Bob. He idolises her. Unbeknown to either, Peggy’s younger sister, Rose, has fallen hopelessly in love with Bob so Rose is distraught when he is injured in the Sheffield blitz.

Meanwhile, Peggy is rescued from her bomb-blasted tram by a young soldier and falls in love with him. The two sisters fall out.

Margaret, who was born in Gainsborough in 1942, now spends most of her time at her writing retreat in the Derbyshire Dales and her home in Skegness.

Margaret said she got the inspiration to write The Clippie Girls following a visit to the Crich Tramway Museum.

She said: “I saw a tram there that had been damaged in the bombing in Sheffield in 1940 and it got me thinking: what if there was a girl working as a clippie who fell in love with a soldier during the blitz and I started to write.

“I only write one book a year and am already working on my next novel which has the working title of Fairfield.

“I had always wanted to be a writer from the age of 14. When I left school I became a clerk typist, working in local government but I gave that up in 1970 to have a family. My husband took a business on and I did all the paperwork.

“I then started writing in my spare time and have been doing so ever since.

“I love coming to Newark. I have a loyal fan base here and I would like to thank them all for buying my books after all these years.”

She will be at WHSmith from 10.30am to 12.30pm.