The Runaway Daughter by Joanna Rees is the first novel in A Stitch in Time - a sweeping historical trilogy.
It's 1926 and Anna Darton is on the run from a terrible crime she was forced into committing. Alone and scared in London, salvation comes in the form of Nancy, a sassy American dancer at the notorious nightclub, the Zip. Re-inventing herself as Vita Casey, Anna becomes part of the line-up and is thrown into a hedonistic world of dancing, parties, flapper girls and fashion.
When she meets the dashing Archie Fenwick, Vita buries her guilty conscience and she believes him when he says he will love her no matter what. But unbeknown to Vita, her secret past is fast catching up with her, and when the people closest to her start getting hurt, she is forced to confront her past or risk losing everything she holds dear.
Jo Rees grew up in Chelmsford before getting an English and Drama degree at Goldsmiths' College. After several bizarre jobs, including running her own sandwich delivery business and writing promotions for the back of Sugar Puffs boxes, It Could Be You, was published in 1997 under her maiden name, Josie Lloyd, and enabled her to meet fellow novelist, Emlyn Rees. Together they wrote Come Together, a twenty-something rom-com, which became a number one Sunday Times bestseller and was translated into 26 languages. They went on to co-write six more successful novels, and along the way got married and had three kids. In 2007 Jo went solo and wrote Platinum, followed by Forbidden Pleasures in 2010. Jo also writes a light-hearted blog about her life as a novelist and mother in Brighton called mumwritesbooks.com, which was in the top ten Times mummy blogs.
