CONTINUING success as a novelist does not come easy and owes nothing to luck.

There needs to be a strong storyline —believable and well researched — peopled by characters of some depth who can hold the attention of the reader due to their strengths and frailties, rather than merely their relevance to the plot.

A sense and atmosphere of the era in which the story is set needs to be established as soon as possible, and the quality of the writing should envelope the reader, making him or her oblivious to the passage of time, disappointed only when the end of the chapter is reached.

As her legion of fans will know very well, Tania Crosse is a master of such crafts, and for them, plus those who have yet to sample the works of this talented, imaginative writer, the news is excellent - publication number eight, 'The Wrong Side of Happiness,' is of similar high quality.

Like most of her previous work, the book is set in West Devon — the location Bannawell Street in Tavistock.

Set in the 1880s, with the focus of the tale the construction of the railway and the imposing viaduct, which still bestrides the street like a Victorian Colossus.

Astutely, the author weaves mention of other streets and roads in the town which are still an important part of the residential, retail and commercial heart of Tavistock today, as well as references to nearby villages, especially those being linked by the coming of the Southern and Great Western Lines.

Central to the tale are the fortunes of Tresca Ladycott, a beautiful milkmaid, and her heavy drinking father, Emmanuel.

A hard working, highly responsible, caring girl, who lost her mother and her young brother to fever when she was five years old, Tresca lives with, and cares for her loving but feckless parent, who is responsible for many of the traumas in her life, not least the fact that they lose their jobs on a nearby farm when, in drink, he burned down a barn.

Around these two is weaved a tale which holds the reader in terms of its realistic storyline; its finely crafted descriptive writing regarding Tavistock and the area, its subtle development of characters and its perceptive exposure of the truly dreadful working, social, and living conditions which afflicted so many folk during the late Victorian age.

The extreme poverty, with the real threat of hunger never distant, the squalid, severely over-crowded housing and the possibility of having no house at all, the heavy, physical labour and poor pay if one was in work, the dreaded spectre of the workhouse if one were not.

A writer who can fuse together a strong storyline, populated with well observed folk going about their business — usually honest, law abiding and respectful to others, but some nefarious and degenerate — will deserve, and accrue, many readers.

To be able to add to such qualities, as can Tania Crosse's satisfyingly clear-cut descriptive writing, accurate historical research and a keen eye for the way peoples' lives, for both good or ill, are moulded and guided by the environment in which they live, elevates the novel from pleasurable read to literary gem.

The Wrong Side of Happiness is comfortably at home in this latter category.

The Wrong Side of Happiness by Tania Crosse is published by Severn House Publishers LTD

ISBN 978-0-7278-8082-2 priced £19.99 and is available at Bookstop and other local Bookshops.

Ted Sherrell