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Liverpool Late Teens
In this third book, set during the years 1950-1953 within the seaport of Liverpool, the main protagonist is finishing his apprenticeship as a Ruler/Bookbinder at Benson’s printers.
The story picks up as he recovers from a cycling accident and reflects on the changes in his life.
He encounters and becomes engaged in a mix of situations: some humorous, when reconnecting with an old school friend; workmates’ alleged ghostly apparitions; an alarming basement fire with a mysterious outcome; and a furtive co-worker assignation ending in angst. He becomes emotionally aware, too, of the regrettable side of life in uncalled-for workplace stances; the city’s aggressive populace minority intent on criminal ugliness revealed in vicious, narrow-minded bitterness, violence, and descending tragedy.
Amidst all this, he begins to envision his future aspirations. As events unfold, he must make decisions that will shape his future while also considering the impact on his family.
What choices will he make?
£11.99 -
Sipho's War
1916. Europe is in the grip of a deadly war, the Battle of the Somme spewing grotesquely mutilated bodies. Into this mayhem come 57 Swazi men from a British Protectorate in southern Africa, most of whom have never worn shoes or seen motorised vehicles.
The biting cold chews at digits used to the heat of an African sun but they are brave these men, they do what they came to do with stoic resilience.
Sipho Vilakazi is the son of a teacher and a nurse, who longs to escape the confines of his mountain village – volunteering for this war is an answer to his prayers. Until a sworn enemy of his family also signs up.
Thembi, the love of his life, is furious that he should leave without her. ‘I will return,’ he says confidently, ‘with enough money to pay the bride price for you.’
For Sipho, his friend Vusi, and Mandla, the headman’s son, their time in Europe awakens a desire to know and understand more of the ways of this world to help their nation progress.
As their time in Europe draws to an end, they are infused with new energy when they are moved to Le Havre and the ships that will take them home. But their return is delayed and one afternoon tragedy strikes.
The shadow that settles over the group reaches beyond the boundaries of Europe, over sea and land, to the tiny village on the slopes of the mountain they call Ngwenya.
£9.99 -
The Cinnabar Dragon
At twelve, Li Hua is sold to a floating brothel, but destiny has other plans. Behind the walls of the Forbidden City, she evolves from concubine to spy. She navigates treachery, suppresses a rebellion, and engineers a bold escape with only a mastery of martial arts and a cinnabar dragon pendant imbued with the fatal poison known as GU.
In modern-day San Francisco, Lu Carter, an adopted Chinese American and a medical engineer, is introduced to the mysteries of her family’s past when she receives an ancient chronicle. During a trip to Shanghai, she uncovers her birth mother’s dark history—imprisonment and debts owed to the wrong people. Upon her return, Lu is terminated from her job and faces a corporate espionage lawsuit after her invention is leaked. But the past and present soon collide.
£10.99 -
Liverpool Late Teens
In this third book, set during the years 1950-1953 within the seaport of Liverpool, the main protagonist is finishing his apprenticeship as a Ruler/Bookbinder at Benson’s printers.
The story picks up as he recovers from a cycling accident and reflects on the changes in his life.
He encounters and becomes engaged in a mix of situations: some humorous, when reconnecting with an old school friend; workmates’ alleged ghostly apparitions; an alarming basement fire with a mysterious outcome; and a furtive co-worker assignation ending in angst. He becomes emotionally aware, too, of the regrettable side of life in uncalled-for workplace stances; the city’s aggressive populace minority intent on criminal ugliness revealed in vicious, narrow-minded bitterness, violence, and descending tragedy.
Amidst all this, he begins to envision his future aspirations. As events unfold, he must make decisions that will shape his future while also considering the impact on his family.
What choices will he make?
£11.99 -
Liverpool Late Teens
In this third book, set during the years 1950-1953 within the seaport of Liverpool, the main protagonist is finishing his apprenticeship as a Ruler/Bookbinder at Benson’s printers.
The story picks up as he recovers from a cycling accident and reflects on the changes in his life.
He encounters and becomes engaged in a mix of situations: some humorous, when reconnecting with an old school friend; workmates’ alleged ghostly apparitions; an alarming basement fire with a mysterious outcome; and a furtive co-worker assignation ending in angst. He becomes emotionally aware, too, of the regrettable side of life in uncalled-for workplace stances; the city’s aggressive populace minority intent on criminal ugliness revealed in vicious, narrow-minded bitterness, violence, and descending tragedy.
Amidst all this, he begins to envision his future aspirations. As events unfold, he must make decisions that will shape his future while also considering the impact on his family.
What choices will he make?
£11.99 -
Sipho's War
1916. Europe is in the grip of a deadly war, the Battle of the Somme spewing grotesquely mutilated bodies. Into this mayhem come 57 Swazi men from a British Protectorate in southern Africa, most of whom have never worn shoes or seen motorised vehicles.
The biting cold chews at digits used to the heat of an African sun but they are brave these men, they do what they came to do with stoic resilience.
Sipho Vilakazi is the son of a teacher and a nurse, who longs to escape the confines of his mountain village – volunteering for this war is an answer to his prayers. Until a sworn enemy of his family also signs up.
Thembi, the love of his life, is furious that he should leave without her. ‘I will return,’ he says confidently, ‘with enough money to pay the bride price for you.’
For Sipho, his friend Vusi, and Mandla, the headman’s son, their time in Europe awakens a desire to know and understand more of the ways of this world to help their nation progress.
As their time in Europe draws to an end, they are infused with new energy when they are moved to Le Havre and the ships that will take them home. But their return is delayed and one afternoon tragedy strikes.
The shadow that settles over the group reaches beyond the boundaries of Europe, over sea and land, to the tiny village on the slopes of the mountain they call Ngwenya.
£9.99 -
The Cinnabar Dragon
At twelve, Li Hua is sold to a floating brothel, but destiny has other plans. Behind the walls of the Forbidden City, she evolves from concubine to spy. She navigates treachery, suppresses a rebellion, and engineers a bold escape with only a mastery of martial arts and a cinnabar dragon pendant imbued with the fatal poison known as GU.
In modern-day San Francisco, Lu Carter, an adopted Chinese American and a medical engineer, is introduced to the mysteries of her family’s past when she receives an ancient chronicle. During a trip to Shanghai, she uncovers her birth mother’s dark history—imprisonment and debts owed to the wrong people. Upon her return, Lu is terminated from her job and faces a corporate espionage lawsuit after her invention is leaked. But the past and present soon collide.
£10.99 -
Sipho's War
1916. Europe is in the grip of a deadly war, the Battle of the Somme spewing grotesquely mutilated bodies. Into this mayhem come 57 Swazi men from a British Protectorate in southern Africa, most of whom have never worn shoes or seen motorised vehicles.
The biting cold chews at digits used to the heat of an African sun but they are brave these men, they do what they came to do with stoic resilience.
Sipho Vilakazi is the son of a teacher and a nurse, who longs to escape the confines of his mountain village – volunteering for this war is an answer to his prayers. Until a sworn enemy of his family also signs up.
Thembi, the love of his life, is furious that he should leave without her. ‘I will return,’ he says confidently, ‘with enough money to pay the bride price for you.’
For Sipho, his friend Vusi, and Mandla, the headman’s son, their time in Europe awakens a desire to know and understand more of the ways of this world to help their nation progress.
As their time in Europe draws to an end, they are infused with new energy when they are moved to Le Havre and the ships that will take them home. But their return is delayed and one afternoon tragedy strikes.
The shadow that settles over the group reaches beyond the boundaries of Europe, over sea and land, to the tiny village on the slopes of the mountain they call Ngwenya.
£9.99 -
The Cinnabar Dragon
At twelve, Li Hua is sold to a floating brothel, but destiny has other plans. Behind the walls of the Forbidden City, she evolves from concubine to spy. She navigates treachery, suppresses a rebellion, and engineers a bold escape with only a mastery of martial arts and a cinnabar dragon pendant imbued with the fatal poison known as GU.
In modern-day San Francisco, Lu Carter, an adopted Chinese American and a medical engineer, is introduced to the mysteries of her family’s past when she receives an ancient chronicle. During a trip to Shanghai, she uncovers her birth mother’s dark history—imprisonment and debts owed to the wrong people. Upon her return, Lu is terminated from her job and faces a corporate espionage lawsuit after her invention is leaked. But the past and present soon collide.
£10.99 -
Manifest
A fatal fall during steel erection, witnessed by many, was misinterpreted in various ways, leading to further deaths and impacting future generations.
The tragic repercussions echoed through time, dividing those involved.
It took another war to unite them and heal the wounds of the past.
£9.99 -
Lament for Etty
Etty Scott, having earned the wrath of the Scottish Kirk, fleas to Ireland with her widowed father, who manages to gain a position as an overseer on the construction of a new asylum harbour.
She uses her twin gifts of second sight and her knowledge as a herbalist to aid the local people and becomes determined to raise them out of the grinding poverty which threatens to envelop them, even if it means endangering her own life.
£9.99 -
The Cellar
What would you do if you were a soldier in 1916, found an enemy nurse in a Pozières cellar with constant artillery attacks and the danger of death ever present? Would you trust them not to kill you? Would you rescue them? Or leave them behind while you escaped? Many moral and ethical questions are raised by the author over the course of the book. The interactions with military bureaucrats were understandably not always friendly to a possible enemy agent from 1916 to 1918 when the book is set.
Ed Jacobs has written a story based on his great uncle Martin’s role in World War 1 and using his own military experience and thorough research to imagine a war story with a complex romance. A What if…story around an Australian Staff Sergeant and a German nurse Kerstin who he rescues and becomes close to over the ensuing ordeals of injury, hardship and divided loyalties.
Would it be possible to love the enemy and plan a life together and…where would that be and what obstacles would they face?
The visceral horror of the trenches, constant death and destruction can be felt through vivid description and is contrasted with the beauty of a place untouched by war and a return to some sort of a normal life in France and England while Martin recovers from injury.
Anyone interested in the First World War and particularly the events around Pozières will find this book of great interest. The added dimension of two people caught between opposing forces provides human interest to balance the horrors of war.
Erina S Hutton
Author of A Photographic Memory; George S Hutton’s Port Adelaide and Surrounds, 1924-1984. Mile End SA, Wakefield Press, 2019
£12.99