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Seeking family connections to a past steeped in history, tragedy and sentiment is one thing; suddenly becoming a part of that life is quite another.
Frances, a retired lawyer returning to Scotland after an absence of some years, was keen to revisit the Highlands and places of significance to her family. Travelling alone for the first time meant she had as her main travelling companion her wee rental car, which she named “Etty”.
It was by chance she was tasked with the delivery of a book to “Young Roddy”, who had long ago left it behind in a guesthouse in Inverness. The guesthouse owner, Mrs Stewart, had no idea who “Young Roddy” was, but “he wasn’t that young even back then.”
With no idea of a surname or address other than the Isle of Lewis, she endeavoured to duly deliver it, particularly once she began to delve into the annotations within the pages of the Robbie Burns book. It was a beautiful, leather-bound collection of poetry. What she found within those pages drove Frances to go in search of the heart of Scotland and its people. She came to an understanding of them and their aspirations.
Was it the Highland coo? Was it the ‘wee bump in the road?’ Or was it something more that steered Frances to a place so far away that would change her life forever?
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Westminster Series Book 4: I Only Want to Be with You
Calandra Smith, an amateur ornithologist, gains the requisite exam passes with distinction to secure her place at Oxford University. In order to fulfill her ambition to work in politics, she aims to study PPE. She meets her prospective tutor, Dr. Victoria Kestrel, who encourages her to take a gap year—which she does, living for nearly a year in Germany and working for an environmental institute. Away from home and family, she discovers her sexuality, her thoughts all too often turning to the stunning tutor awaiting her at Oxford.
The rules against fraternising are strict, and Victoria Kestrel is determined to uphold them, despite the obvious and growing attraction to her star pupil.
Calandra’s Oxford years are full of studying, playing football, and making friends. Sam Fitzwilliam, son of Catherine Fitzwilliam and Amber Reynaud, is also an undergraduate, and Calandra is introduced to the family.
Throughout, her emotions are dominated by her feelings for Victoria. Will this frustrating relationship ever lead to the happiness both women yearn for?
The dreaming spires of Oxford play a leading role in this, the fourth book of the Westminster Series.
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The novel chronicles Nigel Groin’s life from growing up in a small town in Ireland in the 1960s and 70s to hitting the bright lights and beautiful women of Madrid.
Twiggy Burns, with her long legs and short skirts, was the first girl to grab Nigel’s attention when his hormones kicked in. Their first date, however, did not go quite to plan.
He arrived in Madrid unsure of how he would survive, but everything worked out as it always did for him. Martha and Angela were a pleasant distraction while Manuel and Serena became his close friends.
Bagging a teaching job, Nigel shared an apartment with six female colleagues above Oxford School on Gran Vía. The Glaswegian twins had a wee temper and a strong accent, both of which they would have to learn to control in the classroom. The two Mancunians were desperate to find Spanish hunks. Maria, the Liverpudlian, had to deal with her sexuality with a little help from Claire Butcher from Cork.
With his ex-wife’s money financing the school and his lifestyle, Patrick Garcia’s life was wonderful until things took a turn for the worse. Late one night, his ex-wife fell from their balcony under suspicious circumstances. Patrick was not one to be weighed down by adversity, though, always looking on the bright side of life. After all, he had inherited all her money.
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Harriet, recently returned to an English village after a life spent with her widowed clergyman father in cities across Europe, where he has served in British embassies, quickly becomes involved in local life. She makes friends, including a scatty girl who is under her mother’s thumb, attends all the classiest social events and attracts many admirers. Life for her seems to have settled down, but then a local feud involving her father, the village church where he is the vicar, and several parishioners leads the two to return to Europe and more official postings for her father and friendship and romance for Harriet. Then a traumatic event changes her life dramatically.
Celia Andrews has based the novel on Plan of a Novel, a publication of notes left by Jane Austen by Oxford University Press in their book Minor Works.
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It Was Only Meant to Be a Holiday at Felsto Ferry
Charnley never expected his cousin, Gryffen, to be living in an upturned boat with a seagull as a pet.
Then to discover that smugglers, Anglo-Saxons, bay and river folk were all involved in the life of the hamlet was even more of a surprise. There was no doubt this was going to make for a very interesting holiday for the teenager from the nearby town. Certainly, not the one he was expecting.
Things really liven up when his cousin discovers a large piece of amber on the beach!
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Plague Victim, and Other Stories
An elderly woman recalls being trapped in a remote village as an adolescent. A boy goes exploring on his new tricycle, but what does he discover? Two friends attempt to visit an ancient monument, only to find their plans are disrupted. A librarian is asked to give a lecture on the cataloguing of dreams. A curate’s obsession with an Anglo-Saxon saint causes him to neglect his parish duties.
Most of these 24 stories involve a mystery, sometimes revealed through fantasy or folklore. Memory and a sense of place are common themes of many of them. Some of the places are real and can be visited today; others are imaginary. Three of the stories are very short (about 250 words) and could be classed as flash fiction; another is long enough to be considered a novella.
The stories were written over the last 50 years and reflect the author’s changing interests and his developing ideas of structure. Can you guess which is the earliest story and which the latest?
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For as long as I can remember, I have always strived for more.
I recall this from a very young age and this book tries to explain the demons that drove me.
Whilst delving deep into my memory and often with raw emotion, I can now understand and hopefully come to terms with how very much my troubled childhood shaped me throughout most of my adult life.
I was always told it’s character building if I was asked to do or go anywhere outside of my comfort zone… which I took to mean Just have a go—what’s the worst that could happen?
I have used this writing experience to reflect on my life, the highs and lows… and hopefully come out a better person.
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Where Did the Vice President of the United States Go?
A new Republican president comes to power in America and declares that he will do twice over everything that Donald Trump did. As his administration hardens its stance against the transgender community, a full-scale culture war erupts between America and Europe, culminating in a mass demonstration of millions in Amsterdam.
The vice president is sent to the Netherlands in an attempt to broker a compromise, but once there, he vanishes from the watchful eyes of the U.S. Secret Service.
In a breathless political drama, the vice president’s secret summer romance is revealed: a tender, unexpected love affair with a long-haired Dutch schoolteacher whose sister has undergone gender transition. As American Secret Service agents struggle to protect the vice president under impossible conditions, the personal and the political collide.
Can the love story dubbed by the global media as the “Romeo and Juliet of the 21st century” overcome hatred, fear, and the forces determined to tear it apart?
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At the local theatre, Shakespeare resonates under the direction of Matthew Rawlings—a retired detective superintendent now engaged to direct Julius Caesar. Then, in a small country village close by, the play becomes a bizarre reality.
Its proud residents are taken completely off guard. The walls of the little country church shudder with the horror that suddenly confronts them. A body is found, and the village is sealed off. Soon to be followed by another death. As the lives behind that cordon begin to unravel, grief, loss, and love gone astray, glimpsed behind half closed doors. To the retired policeman’s eye something is badly wrong.
Yet both the village and its secrets remain beyond his reach. His offers of help are declined; his instincts have nowhere to go. And as the company rehearses Caesar’s warning, Rawlings is close enough to sense the omens—yet powerless to prevent the deaths that will surely follow.
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1890
On the death of her father, ten-year-old Charlotte goes to live with her grandparents in Russell (Kororareka) in the Bay of Islands. Kororareka was reputed to be “the Hell Hole of the Pacific) in its former years.
It is a strange new world for Charlotte to deal with. When attending school, Charlotte is shunned by the other children. Russell is a pretty bay but frequented by sailing ships, their crews intent on drinking and fighting. There is the added hazard of dodging drunken sailors while making her way around. Charlotte meets an old man on the wharf. Sam Salty is an old whaler. An unlikely friendship is formed. Sam teaches Charlotte about the area, tells tales of his lifestyle as a whaler around the New Zealand coast, and also teaches Charlotte a couple of sea shanties. He calls her “Charlie”.
At school when the book ‘Moby Dick’ is studied, Charlie is able to compare Sam’s experiences with those of the story. Although Sam teaches Charlie some self-defence moves, it cannot keep her safe. Then Charlie goes missing …
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A small factory on Roa Island provided work for many of the islanders, and the island’s future prosperity depended on its success. Originally set up as a private venture by Capt RN (Rtd) William Isherwood, the factory was sold to Ferranti on his retirement. The future looked settled until the workforce was taken by surprise when the business was sold to Black, Black & Blackmore’s, a company that no one had ever heard of.
Work was not the only thing changing on the island. Eight single young women, some of whom worked in the factory, were all in pursuit of romance and their story presents an interesting alternative to industrial matters. Nevertheless, work is never far away.
A Workington firm linked to the factory on Roa serves to introduce another northern community, many of whom struggle to navigate through life without creating drama involving both love and lust. Life, however, goes on, and in one way or another, they survive.
When Black, Black & Blackemore’s took over the factory on Roa, it sent a representative to visit the place, which is what the workforce expected. What was not expected was the astonishing way he arrived, and it started a year of mystery and disbelief.
The mysterious world of Black, Black & Blackmore gradually unravelled as time went by, which should have been reassuring. There is a saying that ‘seeing is believing’, but is it always true?
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REAL Electric Field Lines? - Alternative Physics and Chemistry
This book presents the hypothesis that, in the microscopic domain, “real” lines form between pairs of charges.
These lines exclude forces from other charges and possess their own mechanical properties.
Although highly unusual and speculative, if accepted, this hypothesis yields dramatic and testable consequences:
- It directly suggests the theoretical possibility of cold fusion—specifically, the fusion of deuterium nuclei at room temperature. This could unlock a potential energy source that is green, cheap, and virtually unlimited (using heavy seawater as fuel).
- The electron energies of arbitrary elements can be calculated in a remarkably simple way, using only a pocket calculator. By contrast, traditional quantum mechanics relies on supercomputers and, even then, yields only approximate results.
- A chemical bond can be viewed as a line in the sense defined in this book, meaning only thermal oscillations along the bond are permitted. As a result, calculating specific heat becomes essentially a matter of counting the bonds in a molecule. Consequently, as shown in the book, the specific heat of almost any chemical compound (at room temperature) can be determined quite simply.
£6.39
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