Is Reighton poised to challenge Haworth for Yorkshire’s literary crown? Will a series of books about Reighton lead to our neighbouring village becoming a place of literally pilgrimage? In truth there’s someway to go before anywhere gains the fame of the Bronte’s home village, but the release of Hornsea author Joy Stonehouse’s second book inspired by the parish records of Reighton is certainly putting the village on the map.

The seedbed for the books came from genealogical research, as the author’s mother hails from Jordan family who lived in Reighton for generations. The first book, Witch-Bottles and Windlesticks, is bookended by the Great Storm of 1703 and the Great Frost of 1709. The second, New Arrivals in Reighton, takes the story of the village and its people to 1714.

Both books revolve around the story of the Jordan family and their farming community. Courtships, betrayal, unrequited love and an inexplicable death are woven into a tapestry of 18th Century life and customs and the ever-challenging weather.

The book covers are taken from original water colours by East Riding artist Pam Williams. The art from the first book is from a painting Storm Clouds Over Bempton and the second Sun Rise at Speeton. Both books can be purchased from Wray’s on Belle Vue Street, or at the Post Office’s at Bempton and Flamborough.

The cover of ‘New Arrivals at Reighton’, featuring the painting ‘Sunrise at Speeton’.