A Tavistock author has published her second novel inspired by people she meets and friends in her hometown.

Jackie Waddle, who wrote a popular book Breaking New Ground, about neighbours who bonded over a community garden in Tavistock, has followed this with Under the Bonsai Trees, which involves the main character, Millie Bray, and the theme of gardening again.

The story revolves round Millie who runs a company helping local entrepreneurs with creative ideas. Richard, who runs a garden centre is one of her clients and he exploits financial and emotional affairs.

Millie struggles to keep up with his ideas, but he does take up one of her joke ideas to invest in a bonsai tree section in his garden centre, which then makes lots of money. However, Millie is astute to something that appears too good to be true.

Jackie, who publishes under the name of Anna West, began writing when her two sons started school. She completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Under the Bonsai Trees was written as part of her portfolio for this degree. The novel has now been rewritten under a different point of view.

Jackie, a former hotel housekeeper in Milton Abbot, Tavistock school support worker and copywriter for the Tavistock Times, uses her experiences of life and especially of getting to know people in a wide range of professions and backgrounds to create her characters and to help medical and dental students with their studies.

Jackie added: “I pass on the human touch that health staff need to relate to their patients as people. I suggest they look at them in the same way I create characters by getting to know real people and immersing myself in their world and personalities.”

She thanked friends, Myfanwy (Vanni) Cook, Linda Kennedy, Sarah Jones, and Katie Rich for advice and reading, and illustrator Madison Wright.