Child's Acre

About the Book

Child’s Acre is a story of people from all walks of life and their deep love for each other from the destitute to the grandeur of the landed gentry.  With the rich, the poor, the nobility, the peasants, the nuns, the orphans, the very old and the very young, my story will take you on a journey through harsh poverty and trial, great wealth and comfort, deep love and intense enmity.  The story will carry you along with your affinity to its characters through periods of sadness and grief on to faith, hope and achievement.  You will share its triumphs, look through a window and be heartened by the true kindness of one human being to another and be greatly saddened by malice beyond words.  As you progress through the book you will travel along its twists and turns until the reason for each facet becomes clear to you. 

Whilst the story takes you to different regions of Britain it is life at the stately Manor House, with its family and servants, Estate workers and villagers, that is the one constant linking the lives of the people you will come to know and love in ‘Child’s Acre.’

About the Author

Born in 1941, the child of an evacuee, Ema’s birthplace was a Manor House in St Neot’s, Huntingdonshire.  Raised in London, Ema feels that she owes her love of the countryside largely to the place of her birth. 

At around the age of seven years Ema began writing short poems of the Kentish countryside where her beloved grandparents took her each year to the hop gardens for the hop-picking season.  These few weeks were Ema’s greatest joy and further instilled in her the love of the countryside.  Verse is Ema’s first love and in later years she was to publish her first small book of poems, ‘Land of Song and Other Poems,’ to the delight and appreciation of many. 

Ema was educated at convent shools in East London and feels her personality and characteristic traits were greatly influenced by the adored Mothers of the Ursuline Order.  Her first employment at the age of sixteen was as secretary with London companies where, through her love of words, she soon became involved in assisting with the writing and editing of company publications.

After the birth of her four children Ema returned to work as Personal Assistant with large companies in London.  Later the family relocated to Essex where she joined the Advanced Systems Division of a renowned Avionics company and, whilst seconded to the Technical Writing Departments, once again, enjoyed working on major publications.

Child’s Acre is set in the early to mid nineteenth century. The period has been researched in order to provide a credible background in preparation to bring you this story encompassing life in early Victorian England.