[2] In 1927 the family moved to Rye Harbour in Romney Marsh, Sussex where Harry Newton remained as vicar until 1936.

In November 1928 Edwards witnessed the capsizing of the supposedly unsinkable Mary Stanford lifeboat in Rye Bay with the loss of all aboard.

The unprecedented mass funeral, which was attended by representatives of King George V, the Government and the Armed Services, was conducted by her father, the Reverend Harry Newton.

Monica Newton married William "Bill" Edwards in November 1933 (two days after her twenty-first birthday) in the face of opposition from both families.

Between 1947 and 1968 Bill and Monica Edwards gradually built up the near-derelict farm into a thriving dairy concern stocked exclusively with pedigree Jersey cattle.

Beginning with Wish for a Pony in 1947, Edwards altogether wrote fifteen titles in the Romney Marsh series of novels.

The stories feature many real-life characters (with changed names) which the author remembered from her childhood there, such as the ferryman Jim Decks[8] and the villainous Hookey Galley.

[9][clarification needed] The complete list of Romney Marsh novels is: When she wrote Wish for a Pony Edwards did not realize that finding an agent would be a necessary step to having the story published.