Uncovering Jane’s Secret: A Treasure Awaits

How it All Started:

A little more than ten years ago, “Junior Year Abroad” presented an awesome opportunity for my daughter. We packed a gigantic rolling bag and before we knew it, she stood waving to me from the security line with her friends.

I took care of the lump in my throat by booking my own flight to London.

A C. S. Lewis fan, I realized this was my chance to see Oxford, England. I couldn’t wait to toast his incredible writing career with my own cronies (two dear high school friends) at the famous pub—the Eagle and Child.

Not far away from Oxford, my ancestral home also beckoned—Thornton Manor. Both these destinations lay in the surrounding countryside, a mere hour’s ride from London where my daughter would attend University.

A month later, we were on our way for a visit.

The Idea:

My great-x-nine grandmother lay entombed in the family chapel, St. Michael and All the Angels. She held a book. What book could mean so much to her that she would be entombed with it in her hands?

She held a prayer book used for personal devotion, originating in medieval Europe—The Book of Hours. It came to me then—she knew the Lord.

I immediately felt the connection. Jane lost her father as a young child, like me. Jane loved the Lord, like me. I was a ninth generation Tirrell, or Tyrrell, (same family, different spelling). An idea began to form.

Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

I believe Jane kept his covenant and prayed for the generations to come. I am a recipient of those prayer blessings.

While on a tour of the manor house, which is now a college for girls, I gazed into a stunning stained-glass image of Jane holding the Tudor rose. The faculty introduced my daughter and me to the students—descendants of the original Tyrrell family. Click link here!

Jane’s Secret is inspired by the little we know of Jane’s life, mingled with fast-paced fictional suspense and just the right amount of romance.

Expect to find it wherever books are sold in 2025!