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News & Events

A round-up of book signings, author interviews, news and events.

PAWS, Noses & People

In the past 30 years the use of assistance dogs for people with various difficulties and disabilities other than blindness and hearing loss has developed enormously, thanks to the inspiration, foresight and hard work of a few key people.

Dick Lane, now retired as a vet, has been closely involved in the charity Dogs for the Disabled since its foundation in the 1980s. In this fascinating and authoritative work, based on his own experience, on interviews with users of assistance dogs and from official records, he tells the story of the growing appreciation of the value of dogs to many people, from those with an autistic spectrum disorder (under the recent PAWS initiative) to tetraplegics.

23rd September 2015 0

Alphabeasts

An Alphabet of Pointless Poems for Frustrated Fauna. A collection of whimsical poems based on the alphabet with cartoons drawn by well-known illustrator Matt Rowe.

19th August 2015 0

The Quiet Australian

The story of Teddy Hudleston, the RAF’s troubleshooter for 20 years. Teddy Hudleston was a pilot of immense skill and talent whose wisdom and resourcefulness in both war and peace carried him up through the ranks of the RAF; a Squadron Leader at 28, he was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal at the age of only 35 and finally retired, after 40 years’ service, as Air Chief Marshal. He won the Croix de Guerre for his role in the Suez campaign and at the height of the Cold War he was made Commander of Allied Air Forces Central Europe, serving in the front line of the defence against the Soviets. He was knighted in 1963.

This very private Edwardian was dubbed by the newspaper obituaries ‘the Quiet Australian’ for his unassuming manner. His home life was more complicated, as author Eric Grounds knows well; for forty years Hudleston treated Grounds as his son. He has now paid tribute to him by writing this affectionate biography.

19th August 2015 0

Bitter Desire

When fifteen-year-old Petra Jackson is brutally raped for a third time by her stepfather – a police officer – she vows that she will never let it happen again. Realising how many other men in positions of power are guilty of terrible crimes against vulnerable young people, Petra recruits four other teens who have been mentally and physically abused and they set out to take matters into their own hands, determined not just to stop the monsters but to enact a terrible and bloody revenge for the suffering they have endured. The horrified authorities find themselves powerless to stop the bloodbath that follows.

A brutal, sexually explicit story about young victims of abuse turning the tables on their attackers.

19th August 2015 0

The Diary of Sir Hyde Gowan

Sir Hyde Clarendon Gowan was born to a prestigious English family and in 1902 he entered the Indian Civil Service to embark upon a career in an exotic new country. Sir Hyde rose from the position of under-secretary to become an important figure of the British Empire.

Sir Hyde spent his entire thirty-six year career in the Central Provinces and Berar, becoming Governor in 1933. Despite living for decades in India, he always felt like an alien abroad and often called it an “Ulta pulta desh”: an upside-down-country.

Sir Hyde held the post of Governor during one of the most turbulent periods of Indian history. Tensions between Muslim and Hindu groups divided the country whilst nationalists such as Mahatma Gandhi fought for India’s independence from Britain. During this time, the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed forever changing the face of Indian society and the role of governors in the country.

When Sir Hyde died suddenly in 1938, he was mourned by the British and Indians alike, having been much loved for his steadfast dedication to his duties. His family received condolences from King George VI and other members of the Royal Family.

With an introduction by his son, James Hyde Bowie Gowan, Sir Hyde’s diaries are here reprinted in their entirety alongside some of his speeches. The diaries reveal the great man behind the Governor, the delights and difficulties of his position and an insight into Indian history and life never to be repeated.

10th July 2015 0

TAID – A Grandfather's Story

Michael Thomas’s professional life at the Bar led to silk before he was 40 and briefs in many prominent maritime cases. In 1983 he was appointed Attorney-General of Hong Kong where he played a part in the negotiation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that led to a transfer of sovereignty in 1997. He did not finally hang up his wig and gown until he was 80. He is now retired to London with his wife Lydia Dunn, playing tennis twice a week, and absorbed by Renaissance art history. But it is not to celebrate a colourful life that Michael has written these memoirs; rather to tell his grandchildren about their Welsh family roots, his memories of an earlier century and some lessons of life.

He writes: ‘Those saddled with some of my genes may be curious enough to want to know what goes with them… Time passes agreeably. Memories overflow and begin to drain away. It is time to get them down.’

10th July 2015 0

Molly & Maxi

Molly is a mad, lovable terrier cross from the local animal rescue centre; Maxi is her best friend, a younger black Labradoodle. Since the two met while playing in a field near their homes in South Wales, they have been the greatest of friends, and so have their owners, Pat Danter and Sue Robinson.

This little book is a tribute to the two dogs, and the many other animals which have enhanced Pat’s life and those of her friends.

30th June 2015 0

The Lines of Tamar

Adopted twins Ruby and Eenayah have busy 21st century lifestyles on different continents, juggling successful careers with motherhood and marriage. Yet neither knows of their shared connection to a sacred lineage – nor do they have any idea that an ancient, hidden prophecy from thousands of years ago is about to wreak havoc in both their lives, with terrible consequences. The twins’ search for their birth mother uncovers a direct link to ancestors from biblical times, and leads to the discovery that they belong to an unbroken line of female twins. It seems one of them is now reliving a former life – a life which is fated to end in tragedy.

Meanwhile, unknown to either woman, the forces of good and evil are gathering for a terrible battle to control the outcome of the prophecy…

24th June 2015 0

The Path of the Moonlight

When Shelagh Bell was sorting through her mother’s possessions after she had moved into a nursing home, she came across a pile of typescript, clumsily typed on one finger, many of the pages screwed up or out of order. She had found her mother’s memoirs, covering the years from her birth in 1900 to the death of the husband she worshipped, Shelagh’s father, in 1970. Shelagh devoted all her spare time to sorting them out and typing them up properly, and the result is this book; a beautifully-written, moving and often very funny story of a family who lived through two world wars and were constantly on the move, thanks to his career as a sea captain and her passion for house-hunting.

21st June 2015 0

Waiting For Something To Happen

Athol Varley already had a pilot’s licence when he joined the RAF in 1941, but his eyesight precluded him from flying in combat. Instead a disappointed Athol spent much of the war bored, frustrated and dreaming of his sweetheart, the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life. His diary records no heroic escapes or acts of bravery, but portrays an ordinary young man who was keen to serve his country but grew increasingly disillusioned with his lack of involvement in a war that seemed remote. Having too much time on his hands allowed him to write many letters and diary entries about his thoughts and feelings. The result is an interesting insight into the hopes, fears and attitudes of the war years.

Athol Varley’s diaries have been collated and edited by his daughter, Adrienne de Mont.

15th June 2015 0
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