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Fern Britton Books in Order

This page lists Fern Britton’s books in order, with summaries, series background, Hidden Treasures reading order and guidance on the best place to start.

Last updated: December 18, 2025

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20 books

A Cornish Legacy

by Fern Britton

2025

A Cornish Legacy follows Cordelia Jago, whose life has collapsed just as she inherits Wilder Hoo, a neglected manor perched above the Atlantic. Intent on selling, she instead finds herself drawn into restoring the house, the surrounding community and, slowly, her own sense of belonging.

The Older I Get…

by Fern Britton

2024

The Older I Get… is Fern Britton’s reflective memoir about starting over in her sixties. She writes about bereavement, divorce, moving to Cornwall and rebuilding confidence, offering an honest, hopeful look at ageing, friendship, creativity and learning to repower your life.

The Good Servant

by Fern Britton

2022

The Good Servant is a historical novel about Marion Crawford, the young Scottish woman who becomes governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Drawn into the heart of the royal household, she must choose between personal happiness and unwavering service during years of extraordinary change.

Daughters of Cornwall

by Fern Britton

2021

Daughters of Cornwall braids together the lives of Clara in 1918, her daughter Hannah on the eve of the Second World War, and modern-day Caroline. A battered trunk, long-guarded secrets and the Cornish coastline link three generations of women facing love, loss and the chance to rewrite their story.

The Newcomer

by Fern Britton

2019

In The Newcomer, Reverend Angela Whitehorn arrives in Pendruggan determined to breathe new life into the parish. Her modern ideas and fierce loyalty win friends and enemies, and a stream of anonymous letters forces her and the village to confront uncomfortable truths.

The Great Cornish Getaway

by Fern Britton

2018

The Great Cornish Getaway is a quick, feel-good read in which a frazzled Hollywood star hides out in the seaside village of Trevay. Landlady Dorrie and producer Penny help shield his identity, and in return he nudges the villagers toward mending their own tangled lives.

Coming Home

by Fern Britton

2018

Coming Home tells the story of Sennen, who left her small children in Cornwall years ago, and of Ella and Henry, the son and daughter she abandoned. After their beloved grandmother dies, old wounds reopen, and three generations must decide whether forgiveness is possible on the shore they call home.

A Cornish Gift

by Fern Britton

2017

A Cornish Gift brings together three festive Cornish tales, featuring brooding Piran Ambrose, best friends Penny and Helen, and the holidaying Appleby family. Snow, storms and mishaps test them all, but village celebrations and sea-swept scenery offer plenty of warmth and second chances.

The Postcard

by Fern Britton

2016

In The Postcard, television producer and vicar’s wife Penny Leighton is forced to confront the family she has shut out for years when an unexpected visitor arrives in Pendruggan. A forgotten postcard and a searching young woman, Ella, together draw buried secrets into the light.

The Beach Cabin

by Fern Britton

2015

The Beach Cabin follows Ed and Charlotte, a couple whose fifteen-year marriage is quietly unravelling. Hoping a family trip to a rented Cornish cottage will fix things, Ed bundles wife, children and enormous dog into the car, only to find that the holiday exposes what they’ve been avoiding.

A Good Catch

by Fern Britton

2015

A Good Catch spans decades of friendship and rivalry between glamorous Greer Clovelly, unassuming Loveday Carter and fisherman Jesse Behenna. In a Cornish fishing community shaped by tradition and family expectation, one man’s choice changes the course of several intertwined lives.

The Stolen Weekend

by Fern Britton

2014

In The Stolen Weekend, best friends Penny Leighton and Helen Merrifield scheme to escape their Cornish village and slip back to London for two days of indulgence. Leaving partners, parish duties and leaky roofs behind, they soon discover that even carefully planned freedom can come with complications.

A Seaside Affair

by Fern Britton

2014

A Seaside Affair centres on Trevay’s crumbling seaside theatre, which is about to be swallowed by a coffee chain. Producer Penny Leighton rallies friends and famous faces to save it, while actress Jess Tate fights for both her career and her sense of home.

A Cornish Carol

by Fern Britton

2014

A Cornish Carol puts brooding local historian Piran Ambrose at the centre of Pendruggan’s Christmas. Fed up with noisy rehearsals and carol singers, he is forced by a series of uncanny Christmas Eve encounters to look again at his neighbours and his own guarded heart.

The Holiday Home

by Fern Britton

2013

In The Holiday Home, sisters Prudence and Constance return with their families to Atlantic House, the cliff-top Cornish property that has anchored the Carew clan for generations. Old rivalries, new temptations and a long-hidden secret threaten to turn one summer break into a turning point for them all.

Hidden Treasures

by Fern Britton

2012

Hidden Treasures sees newly divorced Helen Merrifield swap a sleek London life for a tumbling cottage in the Cornish village of Pendruggan. There she juggles eccentric neighbours, two very different suitors, a meddling TV crew and a mysterious old chest that holds the key to a buried story.

New Beginnings

by Fern Britton

2011

New Beginnings follows Christie Lynch, a journalist and single mother whose guest appearance on a chat show catapults her into daytime TV stardom. As her career takes off, she must decide how much she is willing to risk at home to stay in the spotlight.

Fern

by Fern Britton

2008

Fern is Fern Britton’s candid autobiography, tracing her journey from a theatrical childhood and local newsrooms to household-name television. She writes openly about family, fame, body image and relationships, and about the missteps and resilience behind the public smile.

Winter Treats & Summer Delights

by Fern Britton

1999

Winter Treats & Summer Delights gathers speedy seasonal recipes, with lighter ideas for warm days and heartier dishes for cold evenings. Health-conscious menus, indulgent puddings and budget-friendly mains are all designed for families who are short on time.

Fern's Family Favourites

by Fern Britton

1998

Fern’s Family Favourites is a family cookbook packed with quick, reliable recipes for busy weeknights and relaxed weekends. From simple suppers to lighter options and special-occasion dishes, it focuses on comforting food that works in real kitchens.

Where should I start?

If you’re new to her Cornish village stories: Hidden TreasuresThe Holiday HomeA Seaside Affair.
If you love sweeping family sagas: Coming HomeDaughters of CornwallA Cornish Legacy.
If you enjoy showbiz and TV settings: New BeginningsThe Postcard.
If you’d like a quick Cornish taster: The Stolen WeekendThe Great Cornish GetawayA Cornish Gift.
If you prefer real-life memoir: FernThe Older I Get….

Author bio

Fern Britton has spent most of her life talking to people, first through a television camera and later on the page. Viewers know her as a warm, unflappable presenter; readers now meet the same straight-talking voice in her novels and memoirs.

Fern was born in 1957 in Ealing, west London, and grew up mainly in Buckinghamshire. Her father, Tony, was an actor, her mother a teacher, so performance and stories were part of the family backdrop. At school she headed for the stage, training in stage management at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

After a spell working in regional theatre, she moved into local television in Plymouth as a continuity announcer and newsreader. Early mornings, tight deadlines and the odd technical hiccup taught her how to stay calm when everything around her felt chaotic. That grounding led to national slots on BBC Breakfast Time and other news programmes while she was still in her twenties.

Through the 1980s and 1990s she became a familiar face on British screens, fronting regional news for the South, then moving into lifestyle and entertainment shows. Daytime audiences really got to know her through the cookery game show Ready Steady Cook and a ten-year run on This Morning. Her mix of curiosity, humour and empathy meant celebrities, experts and ordinary guests all tended to relax in her company.

Fern never stayed in one lane for long. Alongside magazine shows she hosted award ceremonies, fronted quiz and gardening formats, took part in Strictly Come Dancing and later returned to the BBC with the interview series Fern Britton Meets, where faith and personal belief sat alongside politics and celebrity.

Writing had been in the background for years. She first published cookbooks drawn from busy family life, then told her own story in the autobiography Fern, which traced the ups and downs behind the reassuring TV smile. In 2011 she tried something new with her debut novel New Beginnings, following a single mother who stumbles into daytime television and has to juggle fame with family.

Fiction opened a different door. Fern began to set many of her stories in fictional Cornish communities such as Pendruggan and Trevay, places full of vicars, producers, fishermen, actors and families carrying quiet secrets. Novels like Hidden Treasures, The Holiday Home, A Seaside Affair, A Good Catch and The Postcard mix romance and friendship with the small dramas of village life and the pull of the sea.

As her confidence grew she broadened the canvas. Coming Home and Daughters of Cornwall weave multi-generational tales about mothers, daughters and the way history shapes a family, while The Good Servant steps back into royal history to imagine the inner life of governess Marion Crawford. In A Cornish Legacy she returns to the Atlantic coast to explore grief, old houses and the possibility of starting again.

In her own life Fern has weathered divorce, public health scrutiny, bereavement and a much-reported move to Cornwall after her long marriage ended. She talks openly about periods of depression and about finding new routines, friendships and work in her sixties, themes she develops in her later memoir The Older I Get…. These days she writes from her Cornish home, surrounded by grown-up children, visiting family, cats and a garden that often sneaks into her books.

Across all of it runs a steady thread: ordinary people getting through difficult days with humour, kindness and the odd sharp edge. Whether you first met her on a sofa or in a story set on a windy cliff, Fern’s work invites you to sit down, feel seen and stay for another chapter.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 20 Fern Britton Books in Order (Complete List 2026)