A Healing of Gardens

A Healing of Gardens is a debut novel from the pen of L R Gray.

It's the first part of a two part series and it concentrates on the life of Jackie, who is a young boy who leads a sad life.

He is part English, part German and part Gypsy. But due largely to his appearance (which horrifies and disturbs people) he is cruelly and heartlessly rejected by his own family and rendered utterly friendless.

On his 15th birthday Jackie is taken in bu his paternal grandmother.

Although a "high born" Romany Gypsy, she, too, knows isolation, as she is, in effect, isolated.

She teaches him the secrets of operating her various business enterprises. Unfortunately she also inculcates within him her own warped character traits, her vicious, cold nature, her cruelty and her detestation of any sign of weakness.

This has a deleterious impact on young Jackie as it has a negative impact on his sanity and on the people who try to get close to him.

It's also the story of some beautiful people who are involved within his life.

Especially, there is Suzanne who is a young and attractive artist who he meets later on in his life.

She realises that Jackie is a tormented and troubled soul and she sees within him what ha cannot see within himself.

Their relationship is a troubled one, beset by horrors as cruelty upon cruelty threatens the sanity of both of them.

This is a hardback novel published by Matador and the adult themes that it covers are both disturbing and electrifying.

It costs £10.99 and is available at the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop https://goo.gl/KUU3gK.

That's Christmas: Merchant Seafaring Through Word War 1 1914-1918

That's Christmas: Merchant Seafaring Through Word War 1 1914-1918: Merchant Seafaring Through Word War 1 1914-1918 is a new book by Peter Lyon, Peter Lyon is an acknowledged expert on maritime matters an...

That's Christmas: "Amma Tell Me" a fantastic Christmas gift for your...

That's Christmas: "Amma Tell Me" a fantastic Christmas gift for your...: Amma, Tell Me About Holi is a remarkable book for children parents and grandparents alike. It is written by Bhakti Mathur and stunningly...

Tony Collins: Football Master Spy

Tony Collins: Football Master Spy tells the fascinating and enlightening story of Tony Collins who was dubbed as football's "master spy" and who was also the Football League's first black football club manager.

The book, written by Quentin Cope and Sarita Collins, tells the story of his life, his childhood, his time in the army during World War 2. particular his time serving in Italy.

It also covers his time as a professional footballer, with 47 appearances with Fourth Division Rochdale, before he was promoted to the manager of Rochdale, a position he held for seven years from 1960 until 1967.

His career as a footballer and manager was far from easy. He suffered racial prejudice and scorn, yet he was able to time and time again prove the doubters to be in error as he garnered well-deserved sobriquets such as "The Teacher" and "Football's Master Spy."

He discovered and nurtured some football players who would become some of the greatest names in this modern history of football.

He had battles with the likes of Clough and Ferguson during his 44 days as the manager of Leeds United.

However he had close relationships with the real men of English football management, such as Don Revie and Ron "Big Ron" Atkinson.

And the remarkable thing? This book is the first time the story of Tony Collins has been told!

And as Tony is 90 year old, it's a very welcome publication!

It's published by the Book Guild in paperback at £9.99.

The book is written by Tony's daughter Sarita,with the assistance of Quentin Cope.

There is also a fulsome and heartfelt introduction by "Big Ron" Atkinson, himself.

This book will make an ideal Christmas present for the footie fan in your life. You can purchase it via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you can access here:- https://goo.gl/nYxiYk.

Libya, A Love Lived, A Life Betrayed

Libya, A Love Lived, A Life Betrayed is a memoir by Susan M. Sandover.

It is a real love story that spans multiple decades and several continents.

The genesis of the 320 page memoir was one blog post that Susan write after the death of her beloved husband.

With a twelve hour period that blog post had received in excess of 6,000 hits.

Many of the readers of the blog post pleaded with Susan to expand on the post to tell the story behind it.

And in 2014 Susan began to write the entire story.

Susan had chosen her spouse well, Bashir was a career diplomat i the Libyan Civil Service, who was a very enlightened and forward-thinking man.

They were there for each other, through thick and thin, living through the dangerous time of the Libyan Gaddafi regime, of dangers and traumas, of horrifying experiences brought about by Gaddafi and his government, the bombings by NATO armies including the USA.

There were also coups and a revolution and a blasphemy case, too.

But Susan does not want her readers to think that it was all bad. For Susan and her husband Bashir also enjoyed good times and good years together.

Unfortunately, Bashir fell ill and his family, who hated her and who tried to steal his lands during his illness, attempted to, unsuccessfully, destroy their relationship.

After his death Sharia law would only allow her to take one quarter of his property, the three quarters going to his siblings.

It is a truly gripping memoir and will be a wonderful Christmas gift for those people in your life who are interested in the stories of real people and the personal stories behind recent history.

It is published in paperback by Matador at £8.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, the link to which is here:- https://goo.gl/nYxiYk.

Low Life Lawyer

Low Life Lawyer is the story of the rise and precipitous fall and rise again of a colourful lawyer who is also something of a talent in the world of jazz music, the clarinet being his weapon of choice.

Richard Gregory is his name and the novel is set back in the heady days of the 1950s and 1960s.

The novel comes from the pen of author and retired lawyer and journalist Michael Simmons.

Richard's career as a solicitor had been a stunningly successful one. But things hadn't gone quite to plan, well, in truth there had been a rather spectacular failure that pitched him into the different world of being down and out.

He had, by dint of hard work and a little bit of luck, managed to claw his way back up to some semblance of his previous elevated heights.

But then came a further setback and he had failed to renew his career as a successful solicitor. Well, as any type of solicitor, to be honest.

Yet he still posses his very own slightly careworn piece of paper that announced to the world that he was a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

However, that would only carry a fellow so far. For if anyone were to bother to attempt to verify his credentials with the Law Society they would find that he was not a member in good standing. There was the little matter of not actually having paid his membership dues in a considerable period of time, plus there were some rather, let's say unfortunate, blots of his record at the Law Society.

This is the exceptionally well-crafted and beautifully written novel of what happened after this and what Richard "Dick" Gregory did next.

And also what happened when he met and played with Sidney Bechet.

An ideal Christmas gift for the lover of legal thrillers, it's published by The Book Guild at a rather nifty £7.99 in paperback.

You can buy a copy at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop at this link here  https://goo.gl/nYxiYk.



 

The Loony Bin Blues

The Loony Bin Blues is a collection of poems from the pen of Tristram Cooke.

The subject matter is wide ranging and extremely thought-provoking.

What happens to a person if the are "sectioned" and placed in a "loony bin?"

For as the first line of his poem "The Loony Bin Blues" "There ain't no cure for the loony bin blues."

Other subjects dealt with in a lively and succinct fashion are  stigma and prejudice, what happens if people gather around the wrong flag, what it is like to be an underdog in Mexico, what the rise of Jeremy Corbyn looks like to a British person living in Mexico.

We read about poets and where they might gather, our capital city (that's London) the works of William Blake, secularism, how a FE college grew into a university, exchange trips, and much more, besides, plus an interesting poem about the late Amy Winehouse.

The anthology is well-illustrated with colourful pieces of art.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.

It is available for purchase at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop at https://goo.gl/nYxiYk.