A Senseless Death in a Dying Republic

A young man, Justinian, is setting out to join the Roman army during a period of bitter tensions during the last years of the Roman republic. His enlistment gets off to a bad start when he loses contact with his fellow soldiers while on a march. A chance meeting with a young woman sets off a series of events which lead to criminal charges of desertion and malicious killing.

Set during the turbulent times of the Marian and Sulla civil war, A Senseless Death in a Dying Republic is a gripping story of lost dreams and a disregard for human life. The novel features historical characters such as Sulla, Marius, Pompey, Cicero and Catalina.

A Slaver’s Tide

When George Tyler, captain of the slave ship Charlotte, is becalmed in the middle of the Atlantic, time is not on his side. In the cargo hold are hundreds of thirsty slaves, and water supplies are low. Running out of options Tyler orders the crew to do the unthinkable and throw many of the slaves overboard to drown.

As Tyler sails back into Bristol, the story of the Charlotte ignites a debate about the future of slavery. On one side are the abolitionists, determined to force the government to end slavery; on the other, the traders themselves, uncaring about anything except maintaining the wealth the trade brings. And in the middle, imprisoned and awaiting trial for murder, Tyler must confront his own morality and pick a side – the abolitionists or the traders.

Told from the perspective of the men who ran the trade and the sailors who participated in it, and those who worked to end slavery, A Slaver’s Tide is at times confronting, shocking and moving. It is the story of the best and worst of humanity and one man’s journey through guilt and damnation to what lies beyond.

A Strange Time in Life

This collection of poetry was written between April 2020 and October 2021, during the various lockdowns and attempts to carry on with life in some manner in circumstances that were very challenging. The poem that started it all was written when I heard that my ex-husband had been involved in an accident while riding his bike. After that I continued to write about my experiences during this period. Being allowed out for exercise, I started walking around local parks and a nearby lake. I photographed the birds and wildlife I came across and, as the seasons changed, so did the colours of the plants and trees, as they went through their annual journey of new blooms and shiny green leaves to the falling brown of autumn. This is what inspired many of the poems in the book. There are other poems that came from memories and thoughts of films and music I had enjoyed. There was a lot of time for reflection and I am glad that I put all of my thoughts down on paper.

A Walk in "Wild" Wales with George Borrow

In his Welsh classic, Borrow provides an account of his walk from Llangollen to Swansea in 1856, a walk which at the time would have been a pursuit of epic proportions. Borrow’s literary musings, historical anecdotes and experiences along the way, presented in the form of a journal, provide an insight to Welsh life as it was in the middle of the 19th Century.

In a world immersed in the industrial revolution, Borrow was undoubtedly struck by the magnitude and pace of change that was happening around him. But it would not have been evident to him that the world could be anything like it is today. A world without motor cars, no electricity, no telephones, no aeroplanes, no police force anything like we know it today and the wonders of a technological revolution that has turned the world on its head not even a figment of the imagination, that was the world of Borrow.

A Walk in “Wild” Wales with George Borrow compares Borrow’s Wales with Wales today and captures events that have impacted on towns that Borrow passed through and some of the characters they have produced who have helped shape a Welsh culture built on a unique language and a hardiness of spirit descendant from its farming and mining heritage.  

A Window on the Past

Sherlock, an egocentric businessman in Los Angeles in 2011, is about to fire his secretary, Sophie. But when he walks into an elevator in the skyscraper he works in, he finds himself travelling back in time to the moment when the first plane is about to hit World Trade Center One on September 9, 2001. His actions during the tragedy in the famous Windows on the World restaurant transform him into a man who is caring and heroic.

This gripping story is about those people who were left to die, and how an interloper from the future succeeded in saving a few. It is, most importantly, about the brave efforts of those who struggled to save the people in the towers, and the challenges they faced on this horrible day in New York City.

A Wing and A Prayer

When Beatrice unexpectedly joins Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force on a whim, she soon realises she has bitten off more than she can chew. 

Why is she the only woman in the training unit?

Why is there so much snobbery, and so many illogical archaic rules to fathom? 

Why does she stick out like a sore thumb, and when will she be able to escape?

A World of Stone

From Mireille Saba Redford, author of A City Across the Night, The Waltz of Dust and The Wounded Virtue, and translator and editor of The Anthology of Contemporary Australian Poetry, here is a new collection of English poems that will take you to a forgotten land where nothing seems to matter anymore.
A World of Stone adopts the voice of a woman who finds her life turned upside down when faced with the harsh realities of the modern world and clings to her childhood memories, when the land of legends was a truly mysterious and captivating place.
It highlights her love that could not overcome her pride, her loneliness caused by the many losses she has encountered, and her sorrows amidst the fast and sad changes in the world, such as humanitarian crises, drug abuse, violence, alienation, inequality, power in the hands of the few and abuse of human rights.
Throughout the poems, you will hear and feel all the torments, disappointments and cries which somehow have the power to change the way some perceive the world. However, there is a clear message that despite losing its ‘gentility’, the world can still have a ‘Margin of Peace’ that would guarantee its security and sustainability.
This book of love and anger, of the living and the dead, displays the values that once formed the very pillars of our society, and sends a call to restructure what is left and to stop the decline in civil liberties. Its vivid descriptions shed light on the poet’s own experiences, while stressing the need both to save a world on the brink and to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable by a return to the humanitarian principles of equality and justice.

A Year of Words

The year is 2007 and my mind is full of poems and a need to write. These poems I wrote are a diary of emotions reflecting the day that they were written. They are an eclectic journey through my year. They reflect an emotional journey whose intent is to diarise in rhyme the moment they were written.

Oft the poems are whimsical, sometimes philosophical, and other times musing. The poems were written without edits, the poems in this compendium are of the moment, no revisions were ever considered. These poems are my conversation with you, they are your insight into a very mercurial mind, full of emotion.

I have written poems all my life, and now at 74 some of them have found a page and an audience, please enjoy.

Against All Odds

Liza’s journey in life continues through the eyes of the modern-day writer Ellie Fuller, and this second book of the series follows her return to America with her husband, Patrick, and children but no sooner are they on their way when disaster strikes and Liza’s life is threatened when she is considered a ‘Jonah’ by some members of the crew.

Many adventures occur on her journey but finally she reaches her beloved town of Benson. There are still highs and lows in her life and when she experiences a powerful vision of the future, she risks her marriage, her family and her freedom by acting on what she has seen.

Ellie Fuller also experiences that vision but she has yet to interpret its meaning, although she knows that what Liza saw and acted upon was so important that the risks that she took were justified.

Ellie also realises that Lord Jamie Edgeworth had played an important part in Liza’s life but the current Lord Edgeworth was being particularly uncooperative, as he expressed that he had no desire to delve into the past of someone whom he did not wish to consider as ever having had anything to do with his family. Ellie and her brother, Eddy, knew that they would have to face the wrath of Lord Edgeworth in order to get to the truth.

As the story continues, both Ellie and Eddy are captivated by Liza’s enthusiasm and they look forward to experiencing the next chapter of her life.

Ahmed is The Angel of Egypt

Two very different worlds collide when Stella meets Ahmed through the internet. Ahmed is a Muslim from Cairo, Egypt and has been through much turmoil in his beloved homeland. Stella has lived a sheltered life in England and has recently split from her long-term boyfriend. Over time, despite the many cultural differences, love blossoms between the two and Stella decides to take the plunge and meet up with this dark, handsome stranger. How will Stella fare in this unfamiliar land?

Alaysia

Alaysia can only be accessed through portals, and it lies between several worlds. It is the nexus among them. A threat to Alaysia means a threat to Earth. In the first half of the book, the main characters from Earth – Kriya, a recent engineering graduate; linguistics professor Graham; and Ivo – have to travel through portals to Alaysia. Upon arriving, they realise that they are part of a greater prophecy involving Alaysia, a land that is ruled by Liam, and a planet called Epsilon.

all things must pass

all things must pass is the story of Martin Wilson – a disturbed youth with a penchant for knives, Bruce Lee, and samurai films. Martin scours the streets of Chelsea for victims and lives in a fantasy world which he filters through his hyperactive imagination. At one moment Martin is Zorro, leaving his mark as a warning to his enemies; in the next, he has transformed into a rhinoceros charging at the plate glass window of an antique shop. But beneath the hard surface of this wild young man, there is a quieter and more thoughtful person struggling to be heard. When Martin is moved from a safe house in London to an institution in the countryside, he finds himself at odds with his new surroundings. He has a lot of growing up to do and life is lurking in the wings to trip him up and teach him some hard lessons. Martin does return to London eventually and it is here that Cupid’s arrow pierces his armour, turning his world upside down. The transformation wrought in his heart and soul sets him on the road to acceptance and maturity.