Featuring stories of war, tragedy and discovery, former Whitehaven woman Jenny Martin's latest book, In Our Fathers' Footsteps, will have readers gripped by emotion and mystery.

The 79-year-old, who spent her childhood years living in Whitehaven, has written and published her seventh book, with the main focus of In Our Father's Footsteps being retracing her soldier father's, 'Our Tom' Martin's, steps that he took around Europe while fighting in WWII.

The book explores the themes in Aftermath, the grandmother's book of poems and short stories, marking the centenary of WWI and earning a foreword from Dame Vera Lynn.

Despite writing many scientific reports while working in the medical industry, Jenny only discovered her love of writing poetry and stories 10 years ago, after joining a creative writing group at her local library in Bollington.

The group's organiser, Nick Perring, encouraged the budding writer to try her hand at poetry.

"Who? Me?", Jenny responded, shocked by the thought.

She proved herself wrong for being so worried, writing the haunting Last Post in 2008, and from there her work took off.

The author's collection of poems, Mining Memories, was released in 2010 to mark the centenary of the Wellington Pit Disaster, and was the 2011 Lakeland Book of the Year Awards runner up.

Speaking of her success as an author, Jenny said: "I owe everything to the education at Whitehaven Grammar School, it was faultless. My mother was very ambitious, and as she left school when she was 14, she pushed me into education. I'm grateful for that now".

While In Our Fathers' Footsteps focuses on Jenny's exploration of her father's experience during the war, the self-published author's childhood stories are not to be ignored.

After moving to Whitehaven when she was 11, Jenny was left with strong memories, good and bad, of the town with "such great values".

"People were so happy with so little, and they were all able to give so much without having anything to give. I had a very nice life [in Whitehaven]".

The poet and writer recalled her weekends spent with family, watching the rugby and shouting at the "extremely biased" referees. When asked who the family supported, Jenny laughed - "oh, it had to be Whitehaven!".

The retired chemical pathologist's favourite memory of Whitehaven will always be the West Pier Lighthouse, the inspiration for one of her personal favourite poems, Night Light: "It's so comforting; it's always there. We'd come home in the dark and I'd always look out for it, and when I'd see it, I knew I was home".

Proud memories for the Martin family include the story of Jenny's Uncle Charlie, a Whitehaven man who won Military Medals for delivering an urgent letter under heavy fire on the Western Front, remarking in a letter home that he experienced "one narrow escape" in which "I was half buried... I never felt God so near as I felt then".

As for many Whitehaven families, the pits told a different story to that of happy narrow escapes, and Jenny's family was no exception. Charlie died in the 1941 William Pit disaster, heroically seeing all his men out before himself, fulfilling his duty as Deputy.

"It was a typical Whitehaven miner's fate in those days", Jenny said, speaking of her late uncle, "if war doesn't get you, the pit will".

Tragically, the pits took away from the Martins more than once, with Jenny's cousin falling down Lowca Pit and dying, aged only 15. Jenny said that sadly, this was when her childhood ended, and she was left with nightmares for years afterwards. This event inspired her to write the highly acclaimed Mining Memories.

Despite having such heartbreaking memories of Whitehaven, and now living in Bollington, Macclesfield, Jenny will never forget her happy times in Cumbria, and she remains in touch with her six closest school friends from 'Up North'.

As well as being a devoted friend, Jenny is dedicated to giving back. All sales proceeds from Mining Memories were donated to the Coal Industry Welfare Organisation, and similarly, the money raised by In Our Fathers' Footsteps will be given to the Royal British Legion.

When asked what inspired her to donate the proceeds, Jenny told a heartwarming story: "I saw an Ireland's Big Issue seller on the telly saying, 'I have a roof, food, and love. What more does anybody need?', and he's right. I have enough money, I'd prefer to give the proceeds to others who need it".

All of Jenny's books can be found online through Amazon. In our Fathers' Footsteps is also available through SilverWood Books, and locally from The Beacon, Whitehaven.