A forgotten journal. A “plain” girl. A voice that refuses to fade. In 1889 , ten-year-old Phoebe Miller is told by her tutor, the mysterious Lady Alice , that a proper young lady keeps a journal. Phoebe doesn’t feel very “proper.” She is plain, sharp-tongued, horse-mad, and far more interested in Latin and geometry than in frills. But she opens a leather notebook and begins to write anyway. What starts as a child’s homework soon becomes the record of a lifetime. From a working-class home on the edge of High Wycombe , Phoebe writes about everything: the horses her family trains, her mother’s soap and sewing, the ache of first love, the sting of grief, and the constant tug-of-war between faith, doubt, and independence. She never imagines that anyone outside her family will read a single word. More than a century later, her great-great-granddaughter Chloe Weston McKenzie opens a dusty cabinet in a family barn and finds seven weathered journals waiting in the dark. Those pages—funny, fierce, and heartbreakingly honest—become the heart of this book. Just a Plain Girl from High Wycombe is a deeply human work of historical fiction, drawn from real family archives. Told in an intimate journal style, it follows one “ordinary” girl as she grows into a woman of learning, conviction, and quiet courage in a world that expects her to stay small. Perfect for readers who love: • Journal-style and letter-style fiction • Victorian and Edwardian era stories told from the inside • Strong but gentle depictions of faith, doubt, and intellectual curiosity • Multigenerational narratives where descendants uncover hidden histories Sometimes the “plainest” girl leaves the most enduring legacy.