Books By Julie Hartley
Her Secret Soldier
Historical Fiction
Published by Bookouture, 12 September 2024
Now available on Amazon
September 1940: 18-year-old Rose longs for her life to begin, but even though Europe is at war, nothing much happens in her sleepy corner of England. Then, one night, she witnesses a parachute drop through the sky and into the ancient woodland behind her home. On impulse, Rose follows… and discovers a German spy, injured and helpless.
19-year-old Walter claims he feels no loyalty towards Nazi Germany and always intended to give himself up to the British authorities. He has a story to support his claim – but should Rose believe it? Britain’s new Treachery Act means a death sentence for enemy agents, and Rose cannot bear to be the cause of his death. Swayed by compassion, she hides Walter in an abandoned cottage in the forest.
As Walter slowly recovers, their mutual affection deepens into love. But then Rose discovers Walter has been lying to her, and could be involved in a sabotage mission that will claim hundreds of lives. She must make a heart wrenching choice: betray her country, or the man she loves.
June 1990: Emma, a Canadian journalist, inherits a tract of ancient woodland in England. Behind an abandoned cabin in the depths of the woods she discovers a human skeleton wrapped in parachute silk. Emma begins to probe the mystery of her Great Aunt Rose, who disappeared half a century ago, and the truths she uncovers force her to confront critical problems in her own life – her relationships, her values and her identity.
Her Secret Soldier is inspired by Operation Lena, a botched Nazi mission which saw an unknown number of spies parachuted into England in autumn 1940.
The novel is now available for on Kindle and will be released in print, as an audio book
The Promise She Made
Historical Fiction
To be published by Bookouture, 12 Feb 2025
Now available for kindle pre-order on Amazon
In September 1940, as England braces for a possible Nazi invasion, Ruby takes her little sister Eliza to Canada aboard the SS City of Benares. She promised her dying mother that she would keep her sister safe, and she means to do so. But the Benares is torpedoed by the Germans in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, leading to a catastrophic loss of life.
Ruby watches eight-year-old Eliza sink beneath the waves and disappear.
Tortured by grief and a crippling sense of remorse, Ruby struggles to move past the horrors of that night. She trains as a spy with the SOE, determined to fight back against the Nazis who attacked a ship full of children. She even reconnects with her childhood sweetheart. But her every effort to rebuild her life is thwarted by an irrational voice inside her head that insists Eliza is out there somewhere, waiting to be found.
Then, on the night of the York Blitz, Ruby returns to her family home. Bombs are raining down on the city, and among the ruins of her lost life, she uncovers a mysterious note.
Eliza is alive. I’ve seen her. You must find her…
The Promise She Made is now available for Kindle pre-order!
The Finding Place
a novel for middle grade readers
Red Deer Press
ISBN 978-0-88995-533-2
Found as a baby outside a school in China, Kelly Stroud was adopted and raised by North American parents. She has always considered herself part of a loving family, until the day her dad goes out to buy milk, and never returns. Struggling with what it means to be loved and left behind, Kelly embarks with her mother on a journey back to China in search of her cultural roots. The Finding Place is an adventure story which moves from urban North America to the magical landscape of Yangshuo, China. It is also a coming-of-age story written in the voice of an international adoptee whose unique perspective throws fresh light on the meaning of family: the people who raise us, and the parents who bring us into the world.
I am available for book tours, speaking engagements, school visits and community reading
s. Contact me for further information.
The Finding Place is available in bookstores, on Amazon, or Red Deer Press
MEDIA PACK:
Click here for the Media Pack – The Finding Place
REVIEWS:
“A great story about family and self-discovery.”
— KidsBookshelf
“A powerfully written, emotionally vulnerable coming-of-age tale, The Finding Place delves into the meaning of family, and what real love is.”
— The National Reading Campaign
“Readers who enjoy learning about new cultures, exploring changing family relationships, and understanding teenage life will definitely enjoy this novel.”
— Resource Links Magazine
Deboning a Dragon
a poetry collection
Mansfield Press
ISBN – 978-1771262323
Available November 2019
Deboning a Dragon explores the nature of travel: journeys we take away from places, and towards others. Poems explore the restlessness of teenage years spent waiting for life to begin; the discoveries we make about ourselves when we plunge from known worlds into stranger ones, and the ultimate journey to parenthood. “Deboning a Dragon attests to the probability that shared experience can provide a bridge to span otherness. Hartley is a passionate observer, leaving her own signposts along the way.” – Denis De Klerk
Deboning a Dragon is available on Amazon, in bookstores, or Mansfield Press.
REVIEW – Barbara Carey, for the Toronto Star and Toronto.com, 10 January 2020:
“Deboning a dragon is not like deboning a fish,” Julie Hartley writes in her debut collection. It’s a reminder that imaginary beasts inhabit a different realm than earthly creatures; yet the real and the fantastical often intersect appealingly in her work. The Toronto poet grew up in Britain, and many poems reference real places and are grounded in details that seem authentic, as in “Home Address,” a narrative looking back at childhood, where the speaker describes “the fat-crackle of Mabel’s fish ’n’ chips” and eating “Marmite thick-spread on baps.” But the poems also frequently spiral into the surreal. Hartley’s best poems spark with evocative imagery and carry an emotional charge, whether describing travels, the joy and trepidation of motherhood, or a mysterious nighttime journey from a young child’s perspective, and there’s her observations are often disarmingly whimsical: “I’d like to be/on the backside of an/escalator just to see what/those marching stairs/become in a whispered/upside-down dark.”
Practical Approaches to Shakespeare
in the Drama Classroom
A resource for Drama Teachers
Theatrefolk
Shakespeare is a great resource for drama teachers looking to teach key performance skills: character development, ensemble building, physical theatre, comedy, staging techniques and more. Practical Approaches to Shakespeare in the Drama Classroom explores practical and engaging strategies for drama teachers looking to connect their students to Shakespeare in a meaningful way.
