Modern & Medieval

A medieval monarch finds himself unexpectedly in the twenty-first century with so much to learn to adapt in a new world. Finding new friends and having new experiences he settles in this new place but soon tragedy forces plans to change. The former monarch finds his way in the present day and struggles along the way but eventually begins to plot his way back to his rightful place. Alliances are formed and broken as a country is divided and the main goal of government is to find a way to bring the nation together. Help arrives in the form of the former monarch whose reign ended more than five centuries earlier but his influence is not well received across the whole country. The former monarch works with the current prime minister to put plans into action but their relationship is far from straightforward and at times threatens to divide the country even further.

Milk Tea Can't

As soon as you discover Fraser walking backward and barefoot on the Meadows, Edinburgh Castle splashed by Hogmanay fireworks, you will be hooked.

You will be further compelled when you find out Edinburgh is a character in the novel, her worried eye on Fraser that ominous night.

Allow yourself to be both warmed and appalled with the characters you will meet, all in some way dealing with core human concerns that resonate with us all. 

Taking place in such a charming location, this is a book that celebrates the spirit of the city and its people whilst exposing the underbelly that can destroy all of us.

“Wow. This is heavy-hitting stuff.  There is gold in here.” Dane Picken, Screen Writer & Filmmaker, Australia.

This is a book that will generate important conversations.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries plunges into the no-holds-barred dark world of Airbnb machinations.

Carla, a comedian, and Louise, an actress, are bribed by an elderly landlady, Alice, to travel to a rival Airbnb establishment on the coast and exact revenge.

A mélange of gruesome memories emerges as events unfold.

With illustrations by the author.

Making Old Bones

Gramwell Glade is Making Old Bones.

A care home, purpose built around a Georgian folly castle façade in Essex, Gramwell Glade is making a fortune for business developer Akin Akindele who, armed with an MBA foresaw that high end care homes were going to return significant returns on his investment.

It’s Making Old Bones of Pauline Graves’ career since moving from hospitality to head up the staff at Gramwell Glade and putting her misplaced hopes in a liaison with Akindele.

It’s Making Old Bones of the dedicated carers who support its sundowners while supporting their own families on the small fiscal returns their efforts bring on the ‘living wage’.

It’s laying old bones to rest. For many of the residents their time at Gramwell Glade is their first experience of surrender when it comes to real life responsibilities. That onus now falls to their ‘children’ who now have their parents’ Powers of Attorney and who are handing over the funds that would otherwise satisfy a mortgage sufficiently large enough to buy their own castle.

If we know someone who works in the care sector or spends their twilight years in a home, if we visit family or friends who have moved on into residential care, make no bones about it, something like the Gramwell Glade experience could come to us all.

Makeda’s Ring – Part 1

For Markus the choice was stark:

- Leave Austria, the homeland he both loved and hated.

- Flee from Lizzy, never more than a pale substitute for Laura, the love of his life, shattered to pieces by a bomb.

- Flee a country still overshadowed by the aftermath of Nazism.

- Make for Ethiopia, that land of all mysteries, magical and captivating, sombre and dangerous, luminous and healing. There, as he sets out to fulfil Laura’s dream of finding her uncle’s grave, Markus is forced to face his deepest fears and experience the highs and lows of every emotion, through the fascinating power of a single object.

A ring.

A simple ring, on the finger of an Ethiopian princess, which will lead him on his quest, bring him the answers.

And the words which already haunt his memories. Makeda, Makeda’s Ring.

Mabel Murphy

It’s 1920s London and the world is in a deep economic depression. Times are very hard and the city is rife with unemployment, poverty and disease. One family in East London
have managed to keep themselves afloat, housed and fed, despite having one parent with a long-term mental health condition, but that is all about to change as their teenage daughter is catapulted into a series of life events which are traumatic, heartbreaking and shocking but which make her become a much stronger and more resilient human being than she ever dreamed possible.
This is a harrowing story of innocence, shame, hostility and vicious cruelty from the very people who should be caring for those in need, but it is tempered with love, hope and the potential to change one’s situation given the right opportunities.
Although fictional, this was a true story for many women of that time and is based on several older women whom the author met and supported whilst an NHS nurse in the large hospital system.

Lyrical

Lyrical is a contemporary fiction novel set in the mid to late nineteen eighties.  The setting focuses primarily around the County of Angus on the north east coast of Scotland. Lyrical depicts the ever-revolving changes within the lives of its characters.  As you build their personas, the author tantalises, frustrates and teases the reader as she shapes the characters traits, dislikes and passions within your mind

The author uses two of the main characters, Louise Dixon and Charlie Grey to demonstrate the choices, growth and development (inclusive of maturity) they encounter as they make the transition from young adults to adults. Louise Dixon has grown up in a single parent family with her dad, Daniel. The book relays the struggles, demands and emotional challenges that a single parent family encounters over the years: the mid-1980s social norms inclusive of a nuclear family, two parents with two children to differ from these created predjucies, individuals being judgemental against father. Thankfully, this was beginning to change when marriage rates went down as couples decided to live together and divorce rates went up in the late 1980s.

Lore of the Jungle

Life in the jungle and life in the city have a lot in common. Self-preservation in the jungle evolved into self-importance in the city. The herd of a family unit evolved into pluralistic herd instincts for a family, then to a team, then to a class and then it toned up to a national identity.

Mark Kenneth tells a story of gaining wisdom from a new university student, Aaron Aardvark, whose grand adventure along the footpath of life is to discover how the world works, or doesn’t.

Lokemele's Quest

An emotional and deep journey in which Rosemary (Lokemele) introspectively fights with her personal demons.

Will the pain of betrayal, loss, temptation, and the forbidden fruits of love haunt her until her dying day?

Will a guilty secret be her ultimate downfall?

What role will Keoki play in her life?

And the mysterious, beautiful Ocean Tia - will she be Lokemele’s saviour, or will she add to her woes?

Will Lokemele find her quest for inner peace; or will serenity of her mind, heart, body, and soul forever remain elusive and out of her reach?

Listening to Letter from America

This novel is based on the true stories of a group of elderly people in Singapore who survived World War II. Meeting regularly in an elderly day-care centre, they lamented that their sacrifices in defending the country against the Japanese invaders were forgotten by the present generation. During the group meetings, they recalled the horrors of the war years, especially the massacre of young Chinese men and women in Singapore. Inspired by the BBC programme Letter from America by the journalist Alistair Cooke, they share their World War II experiences--thus began the psychological healing and restoration of their self-esteem.

Lieutenant: Tales from the Super Continent

In the far-flung future, humanity has regressed to an endless warring period. Skill with a forged weapon is king now. Jesse was born on the streets but has always dreamed of becoming a warrior himself. Maybe even a lieutenant? But in this world of endless warfare can anyone take control of the whole continent?

Laura's Year

In January 1976, it is an excited, but nervous family of four who board a Jumbo jet, to leave England to begin a new life in a small town, on the Persian Gulf in Iran.

Adrian, an ex-Royal Naval Officer, thought this new job in Iran would be a chance to earn big money, and although neither parent had wanted to disrupt their children’s education, they thought it was worth the risk, giving them both valuable life experiences, and a chance to see ‘something of the world.’

Once settled in their new home, with the children happily enrolled in an excellent international school, they immediately made friends with like-minded ex-pats, and got involved in an active and well-established social scene, with parties and functions most weekends, and daily trips to their ‘club’ in town, which housed a bar, and swimming pool.

Caroline and Alex, having made friends at school, as well as with some local children, who lived in mud huts, in the desert at the end of their road, also seemed happy with their lot, but Laura becomes pregnant, which threatens to disrupt their idyllic lives, and events that followed, appear to have changed Laura’s, once devoted and loving husband’s feelings towards her.

But, had Laura changed? And that was why her previously, caring husband didn’t fancy her anymore.

How was she to get their relationship back on track, when there were so many exciting distractions and choices which held his attention, which didn’t include her?