Popular author pens latest novel focusing on High Wycombe

Debbie Porteous, who used to reside in Wendover and worked in Saunderton, penned ‘The Centre’ around the Buckinghamshire town where she has made the area the second largest and most influential city in England.

When asked about the synopsis of her book, which was released in October last year, she told the Free Press: “Although set in an alternate reality, it’s not too dissimilar from our own, which means readers don’t have trouble trying to understand the world they’re in.

Debbie Porteous used to live in Buckinghamshire, but she is now based in the France (Image: NA)

“The main difference I’ve introduced, however, is that men, rather than women, have the final say in whether to keep an unwanted pregnancy and if he doesn’t consent, the woman must raise her child in a government-run centre. 

“But these centres are not quite the ‘essential lifeline’ to single mothers that they’re supposed to be, and my recently pregnant heroine must fight against a corrupt and powerful official who will stop at nothing to ensure she’s sent to one.”

On the Buckinghamshire links within her novel, she added: “I know the area very well as I used to live in Wendover and I worked around there for many years.

“I had a job in Tring, at the Performing Arts School and also at the National Trust Hub when it was located in Saunderton.

Her book, 'The Centre', was released in October (Image: NA)

“It’s also where I first started writing –  I used to be a member of the Chiltern Writers Group – and I found all those learning experiences invaluable.

“I now live in France, in the Tarn, a region where they drink more wine than any other – which was true even before I moved there, I hasten to add.

“Although I won’t say we don’t partake.

"Considering my French boyfriend and I built a house in the middle of the vineyards, it would be impolite not to!”

The book is available to purchase via Amazon.

For more information, go to http://www.debbieporteous.com.