CORNISH author Jane Johnson is touring the Duchy to promote the publication of her latest novel, Secrets of the Bees.

Jane grew up in Fowey and enjoyed a lengthy career in publishing in London before returning to home turf. She now lives in Mousehole and continues to work remotely while penning her own successful novels.

Her latest work is inspired in part by her own experiences of life in a tourist honeypot, and by her encounters with bees on her clifftop allotment.

At its heart is protagonist Ezra Curnow. “He’s the combination of every single old Cornishman I’ve ever met,” Jane laughs. Ezra has lived in his cottage on the Trengrose estate all his life, as did his father and grandfather before him. But when the last of the Trengrose line dies without leaving a will, and the estate is sold to London financier Toby and his family, Ezra’s fate is less than certain.

Toby thinks Ezra will be easy to oust from the cottage, which he plans to rent out to tourists, But he doesn’t bank on the tenacity of this old man, who works the soil and tends to the last surviving hive of Trengrose bees. The bees are “the soul and symbolic heart of the book”, and symbolise the tricky balance between the native Cornish and the visiting population.

“We live in a very delicate ecosystem, and we keep swinging away from the natural world. It’s a metaphor for Cornwall,” says Jane, who first learned about bees when a locally-kept swarm was attracted to her developing allotment.

“We need to find a balance between everyone living here residentially – the people who are born here, and want to stay here and work here and raise families here – and the people who come here to visit and have fun and invest in property. We need to have ideas and money from outside, but at the moment, the balance tips on the wrong side.

“And ultimately,” she adds, “we need the older and younger generations to work together for a better future.”

Jane’s work has taken her around the world - in January she was flown out to Marrakesh Literary Festival – but she’s happy to stay closer to home. “I’m a Cornish writer in a Cornish community. I walk out of my house, and within 10 minutes someone has told me they have read my book. I love to get a direct response to what I’m writing about, because it reflects all our lives.”

Jane Johnson will sign copies of Secrets of the Bees at the Edge of the World bookshop, Penzance on June 5; Waterstones Truro and The Falmouth Bookseller and the Tolmen Centre, Constantine on June 6; Solomon Browne Hall, Mousehole on June 7; and Camborne Library on June 11. There will be further events at The Acorn, Penzance on July 5 (part of Penzance Literary Festival) and Paul Church on July 10, with more dates to follow.

Secrets of the Bees is published by Head of Zeus, RRP £20.