Untangling the secret life of runaway teenager

West Dorset based writer Gail Aldwin is celebrating the county in her latest novel The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell.

The story revolves around 16-yearold Carolyn, who walks out of a West Country school in the 1970s and is never seen again.

The contemporary storyline follows the journey of Stephanie, a redundant journalist who takes up podcasting to finally get to the bottom of what happened to Carolyn. The novel will be released by Bloodhound Books on July 3.

After reaching the end of her teaching career in Dorset, Gail Aldwin set herself a new challenge –joining the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation in 2022 and going to work at a refugee settlement in Uganda. While she was living there, Gail discovered her love for true crime podcasts that inspired her to write her own stories.

Gail has already published two novels, both shortlisted in the Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize 2020 and 2022 competitions. Gail has appeared at Bridport Literary Festival, Stockholm Writers Festival and the Mani Lit Fest in Greece.