Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Release date: 26 July 2026
Back cover blurb: Nancy Foster has harboured a devastating secret that shattered her professional and personal life. On meeting her, journalist Stef Lansdown realizes that she has the power to restore Nancy’s reputation and to heal the wounds, if only Nancy will trust her. But someone else wants to get to the bottom of the story first, someone who doesn’t want it to be told. Set in the beautiful environs of the Norfolk Broads in 2010, and in London in the '40s and ‘50s, when life for career-driven women was so different, The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge is Sunday Times multi-million copy bestselling author Rachel Hore’s utterly compelling new novel, interweaving the past and the present.
Stef is feeling prickly after a break up and not sure that she wants to go home. But then a research opportunity presents itself and she can't not.
Stef is a journalist, working on a book about Women in Science and is intrigued by Dr Nancy Foster's potential story.
For she was one of the leading scientific researchers of the 1950s and then seemingly disappeared from that world.
Dr Nancy Foster is adamant that she does not want to be in Stef's book until she meets Stef and gets to know a little about her.
As their friendship strengthens, Nancy begins to open up to Stef, until she decides to tell her everything she wants to know.
Nancy's grandson Aaron is fiercely protective of his grandmother, and naturally suspicious of Stef and her motives. But he also warms to Stef as he gets to know her and understands why she wants to write the story that she does.
This is a beautifully written novel about female scientists and the struggles that they have faced in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge is available now via Amazon online and all good bookshops.
Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.