They Speak of Night My third novel published in August 2023
Dawn will break even for those who speak of night.
Asadi fled India days before the Independence he fought for.
Lily a student had life to look forward to - until one weekend changed everything.
More than half a century separates the events that shape their lives.
How can an old man and a young woman help each other?
When Lily finds the courage to undertake what is asked of her, it has consequences neither of them could envisage.
This story crosses decades and continents, cultures and beliefs. It will make you angry and sad but also fill you with hope.
It Can't Get Darker than Midnight a novella available as an ebook.
In Sicily, Carlo's father is murdered for a crateful of fish and dies with his eyes open. An old belief changes the boy's life for ever.
His older brother takes revenge, but it is Carlo who is branded by the crime. When the innocent flees survival has its own consequences.
Will Carlo take the only decision that will save those who matter to him?
This is a story of crime but not a crime story, of love but not a love story. It is a story of endurance, hope and healing that will stay with you.
Beyond the Margin is my second novel published in October 2019. It is set in Ireland and Shropshire.
Is living on the edge of society a choice? Or is choice a luxury of the fortunate.
'Let luck be a friend', Nuala is told but it had never felt that way. Abandoned at five years old, survival means learning not to care. Her only hope is to take control of her own destiny.
Joe fighting drug addiction runs until the sea halts his progress. His is a faltering search for meaningful relationships.
The intertwining of their lives makes for a compelling story of darkness and light, trauma, loss and second chances.
Inspiration
This novel arose from a short story I'd written with Nuala, a teenage Irish girl, at it's centre. I have worked with many young people who were living in care and she became an amalgam of the stories I had heard from them. As with both my novels characters write themselves into the book, and Joe in the early stages of my writing insisted on his story being told. I began to write the novel in Ireland and the wild and beautiful west coast seemed the perfect setting. Back home in Shropshire, my regular walk with the dog takes me past a timber yard with its rows of sawn tree trunks. I imagined Nuala there at dusk when it is peaceful with only the call of the owl breaking the silence. And so a novel evolved!
My first novel Too Loud a Silence was published in 2016.
It is 2011, Egypt is in the grip of the Arab Spring and there is no room for outsiders.
Born in Egypt but raised by her adoptive parents in England journalist Maha Rhodes recognises her growing need to touch her roots. Despite her mother's unexpected resistance finding out who she really is becomes important.
The turbulent political events in Cairo are a catalyst but when she travels to her birthplace she is completely unprepared for the devastating secret she will uncover.
Events draw her into the political mayhem. She experiences the abuse and violence of the revolution and is moved by Egypt's cause and the passion of the demonstrators. She meets people who fight for change. She faces up to her own naivety.
Confronted with her past Maha is overwhelmed by what she discovers. She finally understands what it means to belong.
Too Loud a Silence will take you to Egypt. It is a beautiful, poignant, sometimes brutal story of cross-cultural identity; of a mother's love and guilt.
Inspiration
I lived in Cairo in the early eighties. Poverty was rife and the instance of children, particularly girls, being abandoned was not uncommon. For almost two years I was a regular visitor to an orphanage taking children out for the day. Abruptly and without explanation the orphanage was closed to foreigners. I was never to know the fate of children I had grown fond of. This is a novel I wanted to write for them.
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