A Droitwich author's fourth novel has been described as "wonderful on relationships, parenting and deception, and especially piercing on the consequences of moving too fast" by a national newspaper.

The Sound of It by Alison Jean Lester has received praise from The Daily Mail and follows the story of a divorced mother-of-one.

The novel is set in Worcester and Ladywood, with some scenes taking place in Uphampton, Birmingham - and even the Waitrose car park in Droitwich.

The story concerns Su, a divorced mother of one daughter, and Jeremy, a widowed father of two sons, who fall in love and want to build a life together. As neither of their houses in Worcester is big enough for a family of five, they decide to build a dream house in which to live happily ever after.

For sound designer Su, it’s an opportunity to create an embracing home and heal past wounds of betrayal and loss, while failed entrepreneur Jeremy sees a chance to impress his overbearing father.

But what happens when financial misjudgements cloud the horizon? What happens when some family ties grow strong and others don’t grow at all?

The idea for the novel came from watching an episode of Grand Designs when Alison was still living in Singapore before her 2016 move to Worcestershire.

She says she did a lot of thinking before beginning the novel, and by the time she was ready to write, she was renting a house in Droitwich with her Halesowen-born husband.

Scouting around for a house to buy in Worcester proved to be perfect research for the story’s setting–although their dream house ended up being in Droitwich after all.

Published by Bench Press Books, signed copies of The Sound of It are available to buy from Alison’s website, www.alisonjeanlester.com/store