L M WEST
My new novel, ‘The Red Barn‘ is out now!
The Red Barn
Polstead, Suffolk, May 1827
Maria Martin has arranged to meet her lover, William Corder. After months of delay, they are to travel to Ipswich to be married. But she is mourning the loss of their child only weeks before and is exhausted and confused. She has been promised so much before by other men and no longer knows which way to turn.
She enters the Red Barn and is never seen again.
The mystery of Maria Martin’s disappearance and the subsequent arrest of William Corder gripped the imagination of the whole country. Witness after witness condemned him – but was William telling the truth?
Published August 2024
The Suffolk Witches Collection
In 1645, superstition and fear were everywhere. In towns and villages throughout East Anglia, people sought to blame others for every misfortune or wrong word. And so the cult of witch-hunting was born…
This Fearful Thing
An act of revenge. An accusation of witchcraft. A reckoning.
Southwold, Suffolk, 1645. Ann has fled from her past but when her childhood tormentor finds her in a busy street, she realises the past she thought long-buried has come back to haunt her. When rumours of witchcraft begin she knows that he will stop at nothing to destroy her…
Inspired by true events, ‘This Fearful Thing’ tells the sometimes harrowing story of a woman accused of witchcraft, not once, but three times and her fight to survive.
Published May 2021
The Unnamed
Imprisoned – unheard – unnamed
Aldeburgh, Suffolk, 1645. Mary Howldine, innkeeper, Puritan, follower of rules. Joan Wade, widow, long-despised, accused of witchcraft.
As their two worlds collide, the terror grows. By Christmas, during the hardest winter in living memory, there are seven imprisoned, awaiting trial and Mary’s beliefs begin to falter.
History has given us the names of the many men involved and how much they were paid, but only two of the women were named. Their lives were wiped out as if they had never been. This is their story.
Published February 2022
We Three
The warning was there. But they did not heed it.
Dunwich, Suffolk, 1615. The King’s Men are performing a tale of witchcraft and ambition, murder and death. Firm friends Priscilla, Elizabeth and Aubrey, fourteen years old, watch in excitement and horror as the story unfolds. That day never leaves them.
Thirty years later they are seized, accused of witchcraft by the same man who will stop at nothing to destroy them. As Dunwich crumbles into the sea, and with their friendship damaged by betrayal and lies, they face the hangman’s noose. How will they survive?
History has left us their confessions. This is the story of their lives.
Published April 2023
Get a Free Bonus Article
Sign up for my newsletter and be among the first to hear all my book news, and receive an exclusive, unpublished article about Maria Martin’s stepmother, Ann, telling her side of the events surrounding The Red Barn.
About the Author
I am Laina, writing as L M West, and I live in Suffolk with my husband. It is a watery place, full of mystery, and tales of strangeness and magic.
There is a real sense of history, of time, in this place, a sense of ‘otherness’, and this is what I try to evoke in my writing.
I also believe that women’s voices, so long buried, should be heard. We need to know what our forebears thought and did, and how they were treated, because they are in us all. They are part of who we are.
What people are saying about L M West
“I love all three of LM West’s books. This third one is so gripping that I read it in two days.“
“A well-plotted, pacy and gripping narrative with some great plot twists.“
“‘A powerful and immersive story“
“L M West’s attention to detail in both her writing and research has created a book that deserves the highest praise ever.“
“This book was an absolute page-turner.”