A new novel split between the island and the Battle of Copenhagen is due to go on sale at the end of this month.

The book, titled ’An Unwilling Alliance’ is by Lynn Dawson, who writes under the name Lynn Bryant.

Originally from London, she has lived with her family in the island for more than 17 years and has written a number of novels which form the Peninsular War Saga.

Lynn said of the novel: ’I studied history at Loughborough university and it’s something I’ve always loved, so when researching a book like this, it isn’t like work. The difficult part is stopping reading and actually writing.

’People have asked me for a while now when would I do something with a Manx theme, so with this novel I decided it would be set partly in the island and then move on along the Copenhagen campaign.’

From John Quilliam to William Bligh and Fletcher Christian of the Mutiny on the Bounty, the island has a history entwined with some of the navy’s most famous moments.

Lynn, ever the historian, offered a background into to the Copenhagen campaign, explaining Britain attacked the until then neutral Denmark in order to protect its sea routes and take its naval fleet to stop Napoleon’s Empire being able to take command of them.

She said for this novel, there are several main characters, including ’Captain Hugh Kelly, he entered the navy when his father died and has worked his way up, he comes back to the island with the intention of buying land, investing in business and finding a wife’. The novel will also feature Roseen Crellin, the daughter of a local businessman who will be the heroine and Major Paul Van Daan who is a main character in the Peninsular War Saga.

Lynn explained one of the biggest challenges is history buffs contacting her to point out when they think she has made a factual mistake.

She said one of her most memorable comments involved an American man who wrote to inform her of a perceived mistake, but he was so keen to do so that after he finished the paragraph he emailed back to apologise after he realised she was right.

Although Lynn does say, on occasion, it is necessary to add in extra events to battles, ’when writing from one person’s perspective, you do have to sometimes invent a little thing for them to do’.

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However, Lynn says when she does this, she always adds an authors note acknowledging the facts, a sign of a true historical brain at work in the creative mode.

Another issue for Lynn is the obvious comparisons to series like Sharpe, which is set during the same era, however she says her novels are not like that.

She hopes her strong female characters, while involved in romances, are more than just supporting figures for men though she does state, it is important to remember how few rights women had during the time she is writing about.

Lynn Bryant’s ninth book, ’An Unusual Alliance’ is available to pre-order on Amazon and will be published on Monday, April 30.

She hopes to add to her series of books later in the year and is planning to return to the Peninsular War Saga.