A Corner of My Heart

A Corner of My Heart is a debut novel from award winning playwright Mark Seaman.

Originally conceived as a play, the author took the decision to re-work it as a novel.

It tells the story of Mary. At under two months of age in 1949, she is adopted by a married couple,. James and Carol Rowland, who found Mary in a home for unmarried mothers.

Mary has a happy and fulfilled life with her adopted parents and she accepts with equimenity the fact that her birth mother, Ruth, gave her up for adoption.

However, when Mary is 28, and a mother in her own right, old, unasked questions come to the fore. Why was her mother unmarried? Why was Mary, apparently,  so easily given up for adoption?

The focus of the story then shifts to that of Ruth. We see the horrific childhood that blighted Ruth and so many people of her generation, torn from the life she knew and transported to the Nazi death camp, Birkenau, where she knew real suffering and horrendous deprivation.

After the liberation of Birkenau and the end of the war she attempts to make a new life for herself in the austerity of postwar Europe. But the shock discovery of her pregnancy breaks her, forcing to give her child up for adoption. 

However, when Ruth receives a letter from her long-lost daughter, Mary, it is decided to arrange a meeting between them, a meeting that will life changing for the both of them.

This is a thoughtful and very moving debut novel from an author who it is to be hoped will have many more books to bring forward in the future.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and is available for purchase here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Righteous Correction

Righteous Correction is the first of a new series of crime novel from author Simon J. Stephens.

It concerns a man called Zipoly, so named because his parents used a bag of Scrabble tiles to create his name. As the alternative had been Waduut, Zipoly, or Zip as he was more commonly known, realised that it could have been worse, as he was known to everyone as Zip.

Zip gets married to Francesca, they have two children and then his family is taken away from hm during a horrendous and utterly unnecessary road crash.

He avenges the calamity that took his family away from him but he then becomes drawn into the ambit of a very secret and ancient order, for whom he becomes involved in the fight against crime and injustice. 

His cover is that of a lonely, widowed man who travels the length and breadth of the country, just cruising on the canals of England on a narrow boat.

It turns out that Zip, who previously was a highly successful sanitaryware sales manager, was also highly successful in his new role as a very unconventional crimefighter.

All was going well for Zip -as well as it could, under the circumstances- when he was faced with a dilemma.

Exactly what would happen to Zip should his controllers and superiors demand that he undertake a task that he found to be morally repugnant, to cross a very distinct line?

Zip is about to finds out.

This is a very interesting book, because not only is it a thriller it is also very thought-provoking, raising a great many questions about the human condition, forgiveness, vengeance, love and moral relativity.

It costs £9.99 form Matador and copies may be bought here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

An Oxford Scandal

An Oxford Scandal is a real treat for fans of the historical crime novels of author Norman Russell and for newcomers to his work.

In An Oxford Scandal the reader is taken back to the city of Oxford in the latter part of the Victorian era.

We meet up with Anthony Jardine who is an Oxford tutor who has managed the feat of being both success and popular.

He finds that there are some strains on his life, split as his time is between his working life, his devoted wife Dora and his equally devoted lover, Rachel.

However, the situation is more complex than he could have known as Dora is, what modern society would describe as a junkie, as she is in the terrible grip of an addiction to cocaine. Her behaviour (as a result of her addiction?) is becoming a source of increasing angst for Arthur..

In fact, he retreats, somewhat, into the world of academia as concentrates on the discovery of what appear to be the remains of St Thomas a Becket which were, apparently, hidden in a secret vault at the college.

Then the corpse of Dora is found (murdered in a tram) and, unfortunately for Arthur, as he was in the area, meeting his mistress, he falls under the suspicion of having killed his wife.

Onto the scene comes Inspector James Antrobus who is ably assisted by his friend Sophia Jex-Blake, the pioneering woman doctor and feminist.

The investigation proves to be somewhat complicated, even more so when Rachel, Anthony's  mistress, is also murdered.

Who is the real killer? What on earth could their motives be? And what is the link between, murders and Anthony Jardine and London?

This is an exciting detective knowledge, yet it is also cerebral and very well researched. The inclusion of historical figures like Dr Sophia Jex-Blake is an added element of interest.

The book is published by Matador at a remarkably reasonable £8.99 and it can be purchased here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

What is Science fiction? And who wrote the first Science Fiction story?

In their book “Science Fiction, an historical anthology” Eric S. Rabkin and Robert Scholes explore the historical cannon of Science Fiction literature.

They cover in Part one “The Emergence of Modern Science” and include Cyrano de Bergerac’s “From Other Worlds” (1657), Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, (1726) and François Marie Arouet (Voltaire) Micromegas (1752)

In Part 2, Nineteenth Century they cover E. T. A. Hoffman’s The Sandman (1816) Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus (1818)
Edgar Allan Poe A Decent into the Maelstrom (1841)
Nathanial Hawthorne Rappaccini’s Daughter (1844)
Edward Bellamy Looking Backward 2000-1887 (1888)

In the section Early Twentieth Century they include The Star by H. G. Wells (even though this story was published in 1889, thus part of the previous century) and Hugo Gernsback’s novel Ralph 124C 41+ (1911.)

They would appear to argue, or at least, suggest that Science Fiction began as early as the 17th century.

However, they omit Swift’s bitter and biting satire “A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick”. One might argue that the theme of commodifying people as a potential food source was taken up in the film “Soylent Green” which has corpses being turned into a foodstuff called Soylent Green. (Incidentally this theme was not in the Harry Harrison novel upon which the film was based, Make Room, Make Room.

(Note: They also failed to mention Jules Verne, a leading exponent of scientific fiction.)

However, if one undertakes further research it becomes clear that Science Fiction stories predate the eighteenth century.

In an article in The Daily Telegraph published 7th November 2013 arts editor Charlotte Runcie wrote an article that reported during the 2013 Cambridge Festival of Ideas, senior lecturer Dr Justin Meggitt posited “the first ever work of science fiction was in fact written by a Greek-speaking Syrian author, in Ancient Rome.”

Runcie added: “True History by Lucian of Samosata is ostensibly a parody of Ancient Roman travel writing. But with characters venturing to distant realms including the moon, the sun, and strange planets and islands, it has a surprising amount in common with modern sci-fi novels and films.”

Runcie also points out the following ancient writings should be considered as Science Fiction:  “The Ramayana - attributed to Valmiki, between the fifth and fourth centuries BC, Urashima Tarō - Japanese legend dating from around the eighth century AD, The Republic - Plato, around 380 BC and the Book of Revelation - John of Patmos, around 90 AD.”

However, some scholars would question that list because some of them involve “magic, not science.
Runcie also cites author and scholar Margaret Attwood “But some question whether it is really the first ever example of the genre. Last year, Margaret Atwood published a book of essays exploring her own theories on the origins of sci-fi, citing Plato's Republic and even the Book of Revelation as possible contenders for the title.”

In general it is acknowledged Science Fiction as we understand the term began at the turn of the 19th century, with novels like H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895) The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Mention must go to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
In the USA Science Fiction novels can arguably be said to have begun with Edgar Rice Burroughs, with his serialised story Under the Moons of Mars (1912; novelised as A Princess of Mars, 1917.
In 1926 Hugo Gernsback began publishing Amazing Stories.

The magazine spawned many imitators and Gernsback added other Science Fiction titles to his stable; Science Wonder Stories, Air Wonder Stories, and Scientific Detective Monthly, later renamed Amazing Detective Tales.

In 1934 the clamour of readers demanding Science Fiction stories was so high it was decided to launch the Science Fiction League, sponsored by Gernsback himself.

The Science Fiction League had branches throughout the USA and with branches in the UK and Australia. It began holding conventions, still a staple for fans today.

An early, long-serving influence on Science Fiction was the editor of Astounding Science Fiction from 1937 until 1971. With his scientific background (he had a BSc) he was rigorous in ensuring the science was accurate.

Under Campbell the magazine published stories by authors who were to become Literary Lions of the Science Fiction world, like Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A.E. Van Vogt, Theodore Sturgeon, Arthur C. Clarke (another ‘proper’ scientist like Isaac Asimov.)

There have been a number of protagonists of satirical Science Fiction, like British author Michael Moorcock and fellow British author J. G. Ballard whose satirical novels include his 1973 novel Crash, which is about people who get sexual kicks from car crashes. Possibly the first Science Fiction novel to feature symphorophilia as the main theme.

However, renowned Science Fiction author Harry Harrison was able to prove in the multiple Stainless Steel Rat novels featuring his character James Bolivar diGriz , also known by the sobriquets Slippery Jim and The Stainless Steel Rat, that it is possible to write Science Fiction novels that are both satirical and highly amusing.

If one reads the Douglas Adams Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy novels and the Stainless Steel Rat novels, one might be forgiven for noticing a similarity if not in the subject matter a certain similarity in the joy de vivre that both authors brought to their published works.


References
Rabkin, E., Scholes, R, 1983. Science Fiction, an historical anthology. 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Charlotte Runcie, arts editor. 2013. Daily Telegraph. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10432784/Is-this-the-first-ever-sci-fi-novel.html.
Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018. The 19th and early 20th centuries Proto-science fiction. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction/The-19th-and-early-20th-centuries.
Psychology Dictionary. 2018. symphorophilia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://psychologydictionary.org/symphorophilia/.
Famous People. 2018. John W. Campbell. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-w-campbell-4901.php.