Emily Stone lives and works in Chepstow and wrote Always, in December in an old Victorian manor house with an impressive literary heritage. Her debut novel was partly inspired by the death of her mother, when Emily was seven, and wanting to write something that reflected the fact that you carry this grief into adulthood, long after you supposedly move on from the event itself.

Sometimes it takes a stranger to bring you back to yourself...Every December, Holly writes to a stranger who is spending Christmas alone.And every year she receives a letter from another lonely person. Being a part of the Dear Stranger club is a tradition she has come to treasure. Because, ever since the accident three years ago, Holly has spent Christmas alone. Usually, the letters go unanswered. But when Holly reads this year's Christmas letter, from an older woman called Emma, she feels compelled to track her down. Emma writes of a sadness that Holly can relate to. And she mentions a place Holly knows all too well. Holly offers to help Emma reconnect with her estranged grandson. But when Holly meets handsome, dark-eyed Jack, in spite of their instant chemistry, she learns he has his own reasons to not want to be found . . . Praise for Emily Stone 'Will wrap around you like a hug in any season' JOSIE SILVER'Tender and gorgeously romantic. I LOVED it!' CATHY BRAMLEY