Ely author Mary Nichols has released a new book, A Different World.

The novel, published by Allison and Busby, is set during the Second World War and focuses on the relationships of four people, thrown into turmoil by the outbreak and war.

Teacher Louise Fairhurst and her pupils find themselves evacuated from the East End of London to Cottlesham, in Norfolk, where she meets Jan Grabowski, a Polish Air Force pilot forced to flee his country after the Nazi invasion.

Meanwhile, in Poland, Jan’s wife, Rulka, a nurse, fights the occupation with the Polish Resistance and finds herself supported in her struggle by a British prisoner of war.

The book is available from Topping and Company, in High Street, Ely, priced £7.99. It is also available as an e-book.

Mary wrote her first novel when she was just 15 but delayed her passion for getting her work published until her children were at school, when she joined the Cambridge Writers Circle.

She continued to have short pieces published in magazines and periodicals up until 1981 when her first novel was published by Robert Hale, with nine more following in the next five years.

She had an historical romance novel published by Mills and Boon in 1985 and she has continued to have her work published by the famous publishing house since.

INFO: to find out more, visit www.marynichols.co.uk.