Blue Hawk took third prize in the 2019 Yeovil Literary Prize. The judge said: "This is a quietly assured piece of historical fiction. The quality of the work crept up on me as I found myself slowly immersed in a world brought wonderfully to life by the author. It is a world set in the 1600s, recreated with an excellent eye for detail. The author has clearly researched their material but has managed to avoid the pitfall of ‘dumping’ the information into the work. Instead, the historical detail is woven into the narrative with a deft hand. The plot itself is a slow burning human drama that focuses on individual characters and their motivations. Joan, the central protagonist, the daughter of an indigent weaver, is a character who would not appear out of place in modern literary fiction – an intelligent and able woman fighting to establish her right to dictate the terms of her own existence against a prevailing culture of misogyny and male chauvinism. The plot of the novel hits a number of tried-and-tested emotional touchstones, such as sibling rivalry, adolescent infatuation, failure, tragedy and redemption. The writing itself is good. I was particularly entranced by the author’s use of (textile) colours almost as charms - the author’s passion for the subject came through in those moments. I found this an accomplished read and worthy of merit, a work that left me better informed and quietly intrigued."