ILKLEY'S Literature Festival may have officially ended, but a local cafe hosted its own writer event on Thursday.

The Tivoli Cafe Bar in Ben Rhydding was the location, when Menston indie-author Linda Anne Baker read two extracts from her debut novel ‘The Sun on Their Backs' which is a saga-style love story set in the 1970s and 80s to the present day.

Linda talked about growing up in a pit village in South Yorkshire, her family roots in the mining industry and her reasons for setting much of the narrative against the background of the 1984 Miners’ Strike. Though all the characters are fictional, Linda has used settings she knows well: from her old home town to places on the east and west coasts and parts of London.

"I am interested in how historical events have consequences which can ripple across decades," she said. "We are all faced with crossroad decisions and events out of our control which affect our futures. None of us knows how we would react given an extreme situation until we find ourselves in one. These are topics which interest me: the what ifs of life and the conflicts we face."

With a question and answer session at the end, her audience, many of them would be authors themselves, were fascinated by how the book came to be written. Linda described how the idea for the story lay dormant for almost 25 years until she eventually found time to write after joining a creative writing evening class and downsizing her teaching career. "The novel started as a homework piece but I was soon hooked," she said. "I enjoyed every minute of writing it."

The experience led her to embark on an MA in creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University where she has majored in the short story genre.

For the Tivoli Cafe Bar, this was a first such occasion to be held there. “But it's gone very well,” said owners Howard and Tracey Rew. “There's been a great atmosphere and yes, we might well think of doing something similar again.”

Described as ‘a story of love, loss, fresh starts and enduring friendships’ Linda's novel, 'The Sun on Their Backs', is published by York Publishing Services. It is available in both paperback, kindle and ebook versions from ypdbooks.com or from Amazon.com.