A NOVELIST has been inspired to write a thriller set at Castle Howard after passing the stately home on her train journey back to university.

Jan Hunter, who lives in Stokelsey, began the research for her novel there, as well as the Castle Museum in York and the Museum of London.

My Two Lives is a thriller with elements of Downton Abbey and Waterloo Road. It tells the story of a modern-day secondary school teacher who finds herself living in Victorian England as a governess.

Already out as an e-book, the novel has received five-star Amazon Kindle Awards, as well as best book cover for a supernatural mystery.

Jan, who was born in Scarborough, is the former head of drama at Stokesley School. In 2005 she won The Northern Echo Short Story Competition with a story about her mother’s battle with Alzheimers, which is now being used by the South Tees Hospital Trust to help carers of people with the disease.

Jan said winning the competition inspired her to concentrate on writing her first novel, and in 2008 she left teaching to work part-time as a drama examiner and to concentrate on writing.

“I was inspired by Castle Howard, renamed Castle Beaumont in the book, which I used to see on the train journey back to university and I started my research there, taking extensive notes, and absorbing the atmosphere in winter and summer,” she said.

Jan said she was now working on the sequel to My Two Lives, which is also set at Castle Howard, and begins at the mausoleum.