Community Choir leader Vanessa Lafaye has proved that there is no end to her talents with the launch of her debut novel.

The novel is a fictionalised account of the 1935 Labour Day hurricane which hit the Florida coastline.

Mrs Lafaye, 51, of Cold Harbour Lane, Marlborough, grew up in Florida but has lived in the UK for more than 20 years but it wasn’t until she moved out of the USA that she read about the storm.

She said: “I stumbled across the story in the morning paper when I was visiting America.

“I’ve written two other books that didn’t get published. It was only when I read about the storm that I was inspired to start writing again.”

Summertime is available now in hardback at White Horse Bookshop.