Entitled ‘Killcannon’, Jan’s novel is set in 1973, and is, aptly, based in Northern Ireland. It follows the life of Sean, an intelligent, happy boy from Skerries - a sleepy fishing village on the southern coast. When Sean and his family move ‘up north’ to Kilcannon, his life dramatically changes.

At CHD Living, our care home in Surrey, we welcome all ends of creativity; and we encourage our residents to express their hidden talents and passions wherever possible.

When we discovered that Janette, one of our lovely residents at CHD Rehab, could create magic by putting pen to paper, we were all delighted. Having a talented author in our family is a treat for those bookworms amongst us!

We are all incredibly proud of Jan, who, despite living with MS from the age of 24, pushed through the condition to fundraise for and, eventually, become chairman of her local MS group.

In the early 2000s, following a trip to her husband’s family in Northern Ireland, Jan decided to bring her creative ideas to fruition and make her first debut as an author.

Killcannon, Jan’s first book, took two years in total to research, since she felt it important to make her novel historically accurate. It then took ten years, in total, to write - and with her immense bravery, she managed to finish the novel whilst juggling health complications.

Killcannon follows the life of Sean, covering the years between his 13th and 16th birthdays. Set in Northern Ireland, Janette’s inspiration for her novel stemmed from her visit to Armagh - an area that she really loved.

In 2017, Janette received the devastating diagnosis of locked-in syndrome, meaning that for a long while, she has been unable to move most of her body. On behalf of Jan, her dear friend, Louise, took the novel out of her hands and passed it onto a publishing house as a very special 60th birthday gift. And now, at CHD Living, we are all loving getting stuck into Jan’s wonderful story.

Following the publication of her first novel, Jan has told us that she not only loved writing it, but that she would also love to write a sequel; something we’re all hoping to see here at CHD Living!

If you’d like to find out more about Jan’s novel, or you’d like to discover more about our care here at CHD Rehabilitation, then please do contact a member of our team.

Janette’s not the only one who’s been getting creative, though; on National Poetry Day, a few of our other residents put their poetry skills into practise. Take a look at our previous post to discover their works of art!