The dying embers of an Indian empire, that had forcibly inducted its indigenous population into a Victorian template of social hierarchy, turns the microscope of these inherent inequalities onto the trauma suffered by a mixed race family unit torn apart by the death of the white patriarch and the subsequent inability of a blinkered western … Continue reading “The Ash Museum by Rebecca Smith”
Author: Rich Jones
The Colour of Thunder by Suzanne Harrison
The brooding presence of Hong Kong’s impending typhoon season casts a seemingly impenetrable shadow over the lives of three friends whose pasts areso intertwined that they are unable to escape from the deadly secrets that bind them. Jonny, Brian and Phil have cultivated a network of deceit, shrouded beneath a cloak of corporate well-being and … Continue reading “The Colour of Thunder by Suzanne Harrison”
“Evil Is” by MJ Martin
The deliberately truncated title of this harrowing account of “family life”, in the bleak landscape of 1950’s Aberdeenshire, appears to reflects not only a lack of closure for the infant victims but a social welfare vacuum into which all adult morality has disappeared. This is the deafening silence of a collective guilt captured by Frances’s … Continue reading ““Evil Is” by MJ Martin”
Helen and the Grandbees
Undercurrents of abuse and its inevitable impact on mental health run like a negative charge through this south London story of fear, isolation and gradual re-birth as Helen endures a seemingly interminable emotional blackout before the lights flicker into life again as she is re-united with her daughter and grandchildren. Up until this point Helen … Continue reading “Helen and the Grandbees”
Soldier Boy by Cassandra Parkin
Cassandra Parkin gives added poignancy to Liam’s desperate attempts to hold onto any semblance of normality as she peels back the mental scars of a soldier whose fight to keep his family unit intact appears to have already been lost to the battle fields of Afghanistan. Emma’s solitary battle to overcome the invisible enemy trapped … Continue reading “Soldier Boy by Cassandra Parkin”
You Don’t Know Me by Sara Foster
A breathless romance in the heat of Thailand proves an unwitting catalyst for the re-opening of a Pandoras box of family suffering that begins to consume any hopes of long lasting happiness for Noah. The magnetic pull of Alice is a subconscious conduit to the past as her flame haired allure bears an inescapable resemblance … Continue reading “You Don’t Know Me by Sara Foster”
The Strange Adventures of H by Sarah Burton
H is an enigmatic moniker appropriately reflecting a character whose chameleon like existence has been driven by a need to survive against all that society and nature could throw at her. She is forced to confront the twin catastrophes of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London with a combination of resourcefulness, empathy … Continue reading “The Strange Adventures of H by Sarah Burton”
Rise of the Shadow Dragons by Liz Flanagan
The much mytholigised fire breathing dragon inhabits childrens’ nightmares before traumatising their waking moments with involuntary checks for singed eyebrows and pleas for parental re-assurances that the house is monster proof. Yet in Liz Flanagan’s sequel to Dragon Daughter we are presented with an unexpected antidote to the winged tormentor who lurks in those dark … Continue reading “Rise of the Shadow Dragons by Liz Flanagan”
CORONAVIRUS DIARY – PART 1
Living with the threat of Covid-19 has lead to the new norm of enforceddomesticity; a bespoke big brother lite with cameras optional and confessionalroom mandatory. This is an unpredicted mutation from traditional weatherimposed confinement to a government dictated lock down where thetraditional notion of personal space is now an ironic nod to the invisible enemyrather … Continue reading “CORONAVIRUS DIARY – PART 1”
Unstoppable by Dan Freedman
Adolescent twins, Kaine and Roxy, are hoping their sporting talents will enablethem to break out from the emotional and physical entrapment of a sinkestate dominated by knife wielding gangs whose coercive influence threatensto sweep away any crime free ambition. The often hopeless existence of this vulnerable underclass is haunted by themenacing presence of Sheldon Statham; … Continue reading “Unstoppable by Dan Freedman”