A Dalliance with Destiny

Spanning a century, and set in South Africa and India, the novel captures the odyssey of a seemingly brash man in his thirties, who fights to remain lucid in what appears to be an irrational world. Whilst everyone around him is still celebrating the euphoric entry of his country into the rest of the democratic world, he is at odds with it. After a series of distressing experiences, he attempts to extinguish the raison d’etre of his angst by embarking on an increasingly mystical journey to India with an unconventional best friend.

“A literary masterpiece, transcending the local and the global, with extraordinary attention to detail. A protagonist who scales the boundaries of sanity and material depravity in his higher spiritual quest.”

“The human condition is dissected in all its complexities with a sharp scalpel, where we sometimes feel a sense of discomfort because nothing is quite safe. And, then, just as rapidly, it suddenly points us towards our own soulful compasses. The intertwinement of humour and pathos cuts close to the bone, but leaves us with a blush in its wake.”

“The narrative reminds one of Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ – the bawdy unravelling of the archetype’s sex life juxtaposed against his quest for spiritual enlightenment as a pilgrim.”

“A commentary on the life of a young man in search of his epic life story, one roots for the main character, yet hates him in equal parts. This intrepid piece of writing brings to the surface a litany of oscillating emotions, for there is nothing ordinary about the lead character’s journey. There is no moment of blandness here.”

A Bridge in Time

Maddie Coles, disillusioned, 40-something housewife, wakes immobile and in darkness, unaware of the catastrophic illness she has suffered.

During this static time, Maddie recreates subconsciously her life from the very first day of birth in 1965. A life created from real memories and forgotten youthful hopes and dreams, which lead her to question and re-examine every aspect of her life so far.

When medical science reawakens her 25 years later in 2037, the world as she knew it is unrecognisable and alien to her. She must come to terms with the devastating losses and extraordinary surprises, and reacquaint with family and friends of an almost forgotten past. She must also learn to live in the real world again. As Maddie travels this deeply personal, sometimes funny, heartwarming and often painful journey she finds inner wisdom which gives her strength to overcome the difficulties of her new life and determination to value everything she has regained by returning to it.

2034

A futuristic, dystopian novel that charts the absolute division of modern society, as the majority of the population dutifully and readily accept the new medical-digital dictatorship in exchange for peace-of-mind and alleged safety. A hardcore, significant minority refuse to bow the knee to chemical tyranny and totalitarianism. As a result, the majority are medically protected from the untreated vulnerable minority by a geographical division of society, policed not by concrete walls and barbed wire, but by lethal drones. The majority are controlled and protected in their ultra-safe, utilitarian, futuristic, world, complete with artificial food, driverless electric taxis, permanent social distancing, and little need to work. The renegades in the excluded world are left to fend for themselves, to build new communities in the abandoned wild lands, living hand-to-mouth, without electricity or any mod-cons, but they are free.

The consequences for the two communities unfold through the story, piece by piece, are not what you would expect!