An author from Llanfyllin has written a book inspired by the true events of women living in rural Mid-Wales during the early 1900s.

Scheduled to launch on June 10, Jan Brown’s book “People Like Us” is set in Montgomeryshire during the years 1880-1940.

Based on the experiences of the author’s great grandmother, the story sees her move from Llanidloes to Trefeglwys, later to Gregynog Hall and Tregynon and finally back to Llanidloes.

The book examines the ways social changes like class movements and gender equality made their way into the small villages of rural Wales and impacted the lives of women in a rapidly changing world.

Jan Brown said: “I returned to live in Powys nearly 5 years ago, settling in Bwlch y Cibau and began to explore the northern half of Powys, having grown up in Llandrindod and being more familiar with Radnorshire as it was known in my childhood.

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“A visit to Gregynog Hall in 2017 set me on a journey of discovery, as for some inexplicable reason I had a very strong sense of deja vu when I entered the building.

“Discovering that I had great grandparents who lived and worked on the estate encouraged me to dig deeper in to the official archives and question my father and aunt.

“Once I had unearthed the bones of the story, I was compelled to write the book.

“The central character of the book is Margaret Davies, later known as Gally, who was my paternal great grandmother.

“Margaret’s story is not unique in regard to her struggles but it is unusual in the way she forged a life for herself in spite of the knocks that came her way.

“It is one woman’s story set against the backdrop of huge change in social conditions and also the story of many women at that time as they fought to gain a small level of power and control over their own lives and futures.”

To mark the book launch, Jan will be giving a reading from the book at Gregynog Hall on June 10 at 6pm.