Whispers Through Time

This historical drama, part true, part fiction, is based on the mysterious lives of the author’s maternal grandparents’, Walter and Winifred, spanning most of the twentieth century.

Encompassing the Boer Wars, the end of the Victorian era and the Titanic tragedy, the characters not only travel onwards through these times but also to the colonial outposts of the British Empire.

As the first book of a trilogy, Whispers Through Time introduces the personalities, dreams and motivations of Winifred and her family. The mysteries that surrounded her life in the past intrigue her real-life grand-daughter, Heady, who tries to unravel them in the present day.

Why did young Winifred leave London alone on a ship to travel to Australia?

Why especially in June 1912, just months after the Titanic tragedy? Where did her brother, Oscar, disappear to without a trace? And what happened to her beautiful younger sister, Francesca, after her tragic love affair?

Time is an ever-present theme that waxes and wanes like a tide throughout lives. There are the what-if moments, the only if moments and the sad reality that past and present generations can never meet, forever separated by time.

We Brothers

Daniel wants to become a lawyer to right the wrongs he believes have been inflicted on his people by the white colonisers. His schoolteacher convinces him that he can arrange a university education. Instead, he is abducted and is trained as a terrorist. He returns to his country and uses his skills to fight the invaders of his land.Peter fulfils his ambition to be a pilot, flying a combat helicopter against the country’s enemies who are seeking to overthrow the government. Often flying into action with only a Perspex windscreen to protect him, he has to learn to control his fear.This is the story of boys forced into different sides of a war, pawns of the architects of the conflict, Cecil Rhodes, Robert Mugabe and other nationalists, Ian Smith the Rhodesian Prime Minister, and his nemesis, British PM Harold Wilson.As the two become men and seek their destinies, they become adversaries in an unconventional conflict that causes significant loss of life and injuries, untold misery, and results in the devastation of a country once described as ‘Africa’s bread basket,’ and which became ‘Africa’s basket case.’The terrorist and the pilot meet several times on opposing sides of the Rhodesian Bush War determined to prevail.On one side, a terrorist skilled in terrorising the population using hit and run tactics. On the other, a highly skilled pilot flying a highly manoeuvrable aircraft with significant speed, armament, and height advantages.Can there be any winners in this conflict?

Voices From the Past: The Woman

This is the concluding book of a trilogy that follows the life of one particular child called Mary, who was born into poverty in 1924. Orphaned when she was two years old, Mary was sent to Reedham Orphanage with her brother, Roy, who was her only comfort in a harsh, uncertain world. When her mother re-married a man who reluctantly gave them a home, that uncertainty followed them. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Mary joined the Land Army, where once again she faced an uncertain future and betrayal, a betrayal that was orchestrated by John, her stepfather. Alone once more, she befriended Dennis, who had just returned from the war and who himself had his own nightmares and uncertainties. Would she ever find the love that she so desperately needed, or would she be too afraid of rejection? Only time would tell.

Voices from the Past: The Girl

The Girl is the second instalment of Elizabeth Uywin's Voices from the Past trilogy. It wasn't just the destruction caused by World War Two which left the city of London in chaos. Poverty and family disharmony were commonplace even before the Second World War, and children in particular became victims of circumstances beyond their control. This is the tale of one such child, a child born to a docker's family in Walworth Road, called Mary, who was consoled and comforted by the invincible love of her brother, Roy, a brother who followed her into Reedham Orphanage where they both endured isolation and despair. As she grew into a young woman, with desires and dreams of her own, her powers of endurance were tested to the utmost limit, as relationships were thrown into chaos due to war and betrayal. Voices from the Past: The Girl is no ordinary book; it is a book for those who wish to have a glimpse into East London life through three decades. It is a story written about a family who actually lived and died due to human conflict and poverty. Yet most of all, it is a story about one woman, a woman who wages her own war, against tremendous odds… for survival.

Unusual and Unquestionable Service

Having survived near disaster at the battle of Fuentes d’Onoro, Fin Ross continues his adventures with the Horse Artillery as the army advances into Spain, having to overcome the rugged mountain landscape, as well as an army of deserters. Heading for the battle of Vitoria, Fin works with his trusted friend Thomo to bring the guns to their allotted position against the advancing enemy and has to come to terms with his respected captain being falsely arrested whilst yet again facing the man who hates him more than any other…

Under the Whispering Filaos

In October 1957, Jeremy left his island paradise to become a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, leaving behind, Maureen, the young girl he intended to marry as soon as he had completed his training. Unbeknown to him, family quarrels instigated by his controlling mother caused a breakdown in communication as their letters went undelivered, leaving the young couple to think that the other had broken the vow. Finding herself pregnant, Maureen leaves the island to live with her married sister in South Africa so as not to bring shame to her family.The Cold War is in full swing and the “Wind of Change” about to sweep the continent, soon bringing with it some of the toughest battles since WW2, on the borders of the country. Maureen, married and now widowed, returns to her island with her married son and small family. What had become of him, she often wonders. Did he ever think about her and their child? Had time erased his love for her? 

Trevelyan

It is the end of the 18^th century and the end of schooling for four Cornish youngsters. They share their aspirations for the future, not realising there is a price to be paid.

Cornwall is the land of mystery, legends, folktale and myths. Tiny villages with narrow winding streets nestle around rocky cover ideal for landing and distributing contraband. The fishermen are dependent upon the sea in all its moods and are forced to subsidise their catch with smuggled French brandy, tobacco, tea, and silk. The only other possible occupations, the tin mines and the farmed estates, are in the hands of the wealthy few, like Lord Trevelyan. For most Cornishmen life is harsh.

To fulfil her own hopes of a better life, one young girl Karenza, discovers there are secrets to be concealed and seemingly impossible promises to be honoured, played out against an austere and merciless Cornish landscape and the ongoing hostility of the French.

Treasures of War

Leningrad, 1941.

Germany’s Operation Barbarossa is tightening its noose around the city. The Neva River and Lake Ladoga freeze. Few supplies reach the city. Thousands suffer from cold and starvation.

Katuska and Nina Koslov, young daughters of a dedicated museum employee, shelter in the basement of the great Hermitage Museum—once the palace of Tsars. As insulation to meagre coats, their mother sews ‘found’ canvases into the linings.

Upon the death of their parents, the girls begin a new chapter in their lives with the hidden paintings cherished as mementos of parental love.

We accompany Katuska and Nina on an obstacle-filled journey through war and its challenging aftermath. We accompany the ‘found’ paintings, also known to some as ‘stolen art’, on journeys through Europe, England, the US and the Soviet Union.

Transcendence

Captured at Gallipoli on 25 April, 1915, Sergeant Berenger, an uncompromising professional soldier, escapes Turkish imprisonment. He enlists the assistance of three unlikely co-conspirators: Ali, a simple Arab boy forcibly drafted into the Ottoman army with his brother, Mohammad; and Avraham, a Jewish merchant, who determines his future is no longer with the Ottoman Empire. Pursued by the sadistic Tolga from the Turkish prison at Fort Kilitbahir, Berenger discovers the date of the Turkish counter-attack on ANZAC positions. Berenger must return to the ANZAC lines to deliver the intelligence that a massive Turkish counter-attack will commence on 19 May 1915; and he must slip through Mustafa Kemal's 57th Turkish Regiment in order to do so.

Trampled Grass

This novel is based on a historical account, going back to early 19th century when Great Britain defeated Napoleon Bonaparte, expanding the empire. That led to the need for considerable manpower. The captain of a ship is not only responsible for navigating the vessel skilfully, but should be a leader to all the naval trainees and junior officers. He should make right decisions which can be harsh, without emotions, for all. This novel tells a story of the kind-hearted Captain Fraser who led his ship to near-disaster on the Thames. After abolition of slavery, the need for farm labourers was filled by a 'new system of slavery' called 'indentured labourers from India'. This novel describes their suffering and what happened to them, which the world hardly knows about.

To Regain a Legacy

It is in Paris during France’s pre-revolutionary Ancien Régime when gambler, socialite and renowned swordsman Napier Gerrard enjoys a life of luxury and leisure. However, his comfortable lifestyle is blighted by the troubled memory of a double murder when, as a teenager, he lived in England with his father, a fencing master to a Royal Duke. Worse still, he was falsely accused of the crimes and only escaped with his life by fleeing back to his native France.

Napier, knowing that he will never obtain peace of mind until he has done what he considers to be the right thing by his father’s memory, makes the momentous decision to return to England in search of his father’s resting place. He is aware that, with a large bounty on his head, he could expect betrayal at any time.

Once in England, fate intervenes to keep Napier in danger as a series of events come together to set him on a course that will test his swordsmanship and survival instincts to their very limits.

To Have and To Hold

In 19th Century England, two small girls are ripped from their families and sold into cotton mill slavery. Lost, confused and alone, Emma and Susie find solace in each other's company. They search for freedom and identity as they battle the cold and miserable conditions and their place of nonentity in the mill. How will their dreams of freedom be achieved?

When not working in the Hell on earth that is the spinning-room, they are locked in the mill garret. Their owners recognize them as 'hands', implements of labour, rather than living, breathing people. Then, one night changes the course of each girl's life. After this one night of freedom Susie's restless nature cannot be calmed, and the two must learn how to survive their newfound freedom, and to discover who they are truly are.