Hello and thank you for visiting my website.
You'll find lots of information here as you explore my site, I hope you enjoy it!
Here's a little bit about my mum, the original Kitty Neale...
Her novels are set in and around South London, an area our family moved to when mum was two years old. A working class family, my grandparents were employed full time in local factories, and mum was a latch-key kid. Her playgrounds were the streets on Lavender Hill in Battersea, within walking distance to Clapham Common. She also took longer treks to Battersea Park where there were a myriad of things to excite children.
Mum's vivid imagination as a child was a family joke and she would amuse them with horrific tales, but it wasn’t until she attended Tennyson Street secondary school that her English teacher saw something in her essays. He told mum that her punctuation needed work, but if she stuck at it, she could become a writer. This wasn’t to happen until mum started her first novel in the year 2000, A Cuckoo in Candle Lane.
Sadly, mum passed away in October 2024, but I had already been writing the Kitty Neale books for many years.
I took over the name when I moved to Spain and have since penned over ten Kitty Neale novels, including the Battersea Tavern series. I've loved creating the characters in these gritty sagas - Winnie Berry often reminds me of my dear departed nan. A Mother's Secret, A Family Secret, A Wife's Courage and An Orphan's Hope are set in and around a local pub in Battersea during WW2. I found it fascinating to research this era of Battersea, and though my stories are fictional, I've tried to keep the historical facts accurate.
A bit about me - I live in Spain with my husband, 4 dogs and 8 cats, all rescues, including the husband, haha. We live in a rural area up a mountain with stunning views. Following my dad's death, Mum moved into a small house in our garden. She was my best friend and a huge part of my life, so I miss her terribly. But I know how proud she was of me and I'm sure she's still with me, watching me type my manuscripts and always guiding me.
I do hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them, and once again thank you for visiting my website.
Many thanks to all my readers,
Kitty Neale, author, AKA Sam Michaels.