Author, 93, uses profits from first novel to buy massive house to spare friends misery of care home

But at 93, Lorna Page had a rather more altruistic ambition  -  she wanted to save her friends from having to live in nursing homes.

She pledged to spend all the proceeds from her book, A Dangerous Weakness, on moving into a bigger house so that they could come and live with her.

Novel idea: Lorna Page, 93, used the profits from her debut novel to buy a house big enough to save her friends from living in care homes

Mrs Page said she was motivated to help by seeing her friends ' miserable' in residential care.

She wrote her book while living in a one-bedroom flat but has now swapped it for a £310,000 five-bedroomed property in Weare Giffard, Devon.

The grandmother of two has invited friends who are 'unhappy' in care homes to move in  -  and says she already has a queue of people eager to take up the offer.

Mrs Page, a widow, said: 'The book has sold nicely and I was able to buy a much bigger place to live. I only had a small flat before.

'I wanted to be able to give a room to as many friends who live in care homes as possible.

New home: Lorna already has a 'queue' of friends who want to move in

'Care homes can be such miserable places. You sit there all day staring out the window with no one to talk to.'

She added: 'It would be lovely to give a home and family life to one or two people who would otherwise be sitting around in homes.

'I have friends who are in homes and it is so sad. You visit them and they are so unhappy. They really have nothing to do.

'I started asking people if they wanted to move out of their care homes and live with me and I've had dozens of offers. They are queuing up.

'It's nice for me too because at my age it's handy to have someone to live with.

'I think I can accommodate three people. Every book that sells will help towards making a home for someone.'

Mrs Page, who was born and raised in Bideford, Devon, has written for newspapers for several decades but the 'whodunnit' is her first published book.

It is set in the Swiss mountains and a London hotel.

According to the publisher, the book is a 'breathless' thriller.

It states: 'When Marion Hemming accepts an invitation to spend the Christmas holidays in Switzerland with an old classmate from her boarding school days, she's on the brink of doubting her marriage.

'She never suspects that the seemingly innocent invitation is part of her husband's plan to involve her in a bitter power struggle which includes unanticipated treachery and leads her into uncertain partnerships and liaisons.'

Mrs Page wrote the book three years ago but made no attempt to get it published.

Then recently, her daughter-in-law found the manuscript and convinced her it would be worth marketing it.

She sent it to self-publishing firm AuthorHouse, who put the book on sale as a paperback for £14.95 and a hardcover for £16.95.

Mrs Page said: 'I should have done it before but it got put away in a suitcase and forgotten about until my daughter-in-law found it and said it should be published.

'I've always written. I started as soon as I could hold a pencil  -  fairy stories, poetry, short stories, magazine articles. It seems I've been writing for a hundred years.'

Mrs Page's decision follows reports that half of all care homes fail to look after residents with dementia properly.

The Alzheimer's Society found homes where residents were barred from moving about, where they went hungry because no one bothered to help them eat, and where they were left to stare at a television all day long.

The Daily Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign has highlighted the declining standards in many nursing homes.

It has also drawn attention to the looming £6billion shortfall in the amount needed to care for all of Britain's old people in 20 years' time.