The Gift of Time

In The Gift of Time author Julie Walker explores the world of the COVID pandemic.

During the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, like many people, Julie Walker suffered severe anxiety, both in her own right and also for the other people who were forced to stay at home with her.

However, unlike most people traumatised by the lockdowns and restrictions, Julie Walker is a novelist and she decided to mine her recent negative experiences for golden nuggets for a novel.

She has written a novel about six strangers who all experienced life during the time of COVID in six different, individual, ways and all who experienced  very divergent results.

Readers will learn about Elisabeth. Elisabeth has autism. She has never found that her autism held her back in her life. Except, of course, when something disturbs the equilibrium of her day-to-day life.

Alejandra has altered and changed, but she is not aware of this. There's something about her husband that she has ignored throughout their married life. The unpleasant fact that she must now come to terms with is that her husband is actually a narcissist. But now she has acknowledged this, it's not something she can ignore. Once seen, she can't unsee it.

Mary Ann lives an isolated sort of a life. Almost as if she in in a cage of some sort. She lives this lifestyle as a combination of both circumstances and, to an extent, choice. with the new way of living foisted upon her, what will she do now? Is it time for her to reassess her life?

Giuseppe yearns to be able to flee to his homeland. But he can't do this. For he has his own mother to think about and there are his own health issues to take into consideration. But are these real concerns or a shield against him having to make a decision?

Clayton is fully aware that he is coming close to the end of his life and he is painfully aware that he must take the last opportunity to fix things in his family that he believes need fixing whilst he has enough time left. But does he?

As for Annchi the wide world beyond was something she was unaware of, pretty much. But she'd learn about it and more besides.

They all were craving the gift of time to learn, to grow, to repair, to regroup. But the gift of time came with a price. For their "gift" of time came about as a result of the COVID lockdown.

How could they cope? How could they deal with the lockdown? Ignore it and hope for the best? Learn how to cope with COVID and their lives beyond?

It's a very captivating novel and Julie uses her skills as a storyteller to create some characters that you will love and some that you will not particularly like!

It is published by Matador at £10.99.

Roll Over Rhymes

Roll Over Rhymes is a new book that is ideal for children and their parents and other older family members to read together and share the fantastic, vibrant and colourful illustrations.

It's co-authored by Suzanne Sasse and June Laurie.

It's a rhyming book aimed at children and it is intended to help them learn about acceptance and empowerment.

It is a collection of ten newly created fairytales that are told in rhyme. The stories include new takes on some familiar characters, unexpected plot twists, humour and the stories are given fresh, new modern day settings.

But each story still includes some lovely magic!

There are genies, Cinders, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, a queen, a boy called Pete, Witches, a Wolf who learns a very important lesson and a Princess who has different ideas about how her life should progress.

It is published by Troubador at £7.00.

Lotus-Eating Days

Lotus-Eating Days is a memoir written by Caroline Repton.

It tells the true story of two very different people who came from vastly dissimilar backgrounds who, however, met and married.

Geoffrey Christopher Tyrwhitt Repton was the eldest child of a middle-class English family.

Whilst Theresa Repton (nee Pang Kim Lui) was the 13th child of a family of Chinese immigrants living in the British colony of Singapore.

In her fascinating and extremely well researched book she tells their stories. How, although they grew up on different sides of the world and had very different backgrounds, the common bond they found was that they had both survived the Second World War in the Asian warzone.

Christopher had been a prisoner of war forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway, whilst Theresa was a young woman working in Japanese-occupied Singapore.

Caroline Repton brings to life a whole variety of characters from witty former prisoners of war, loving siblings, cousins who were in the armed forces, idiosyncratic spinster aunts, ex-girlfriends, chipper colonials.

The story is told in their own words by means of a wide range of letters and diary entries from the 1930s to 1959. And Theresa's tape-recorded memories put to tape in 2000.

As well as being very well written the book is profusely illustrated with a delightful array of intimate family photographs and wartime postcards.

It's published by The Book Guild at £16.99 in hardback.

Common Sense

It's 2029 and there has been a major upheaval in the world of British Politics. The Common Sense Party, which campaigned on eliminating crime has swept the board in British Politics, claiming an astounding 400 seats with Labour and the Conservatives limping in with 99 seats each.

Broadcaster David McDougall is the joint leader of the new party and is a shoo-in to be Prime Minister. 

Except there has been a sort of a palace coup within the new party and the new Prime Minister is Bob Goodwin, rather than David McDougall.

In his debut novel, Common Sense, Colin Wreford examines what might happen in the not-too-distant future.

At first the new party has the full backing and support of the public as it works hard to put into practice its new policies.

However, things soon start to look a little less promising as corporal punishment and the death penalty are brought back and gay marriages are declared illegal.

The story open with an interview between TV presenter Sara Molan and new Prime Minister Bob Goodwin. 

Soon their professional and personal lives become interlinked and his lust for Sara starts to cloud his judgement.

Inevitably protests about the new and draconian laws develop but the public and the establishment is shocked at the severe punishments that are meted out to the protesters and the actions of Prime Minister Goodwin range between a little bit odd to utterly weird.

Former co-leader of the party David McDougall forms an opposition to what he sees as the excesses of Goodwin. Can Goodwin defeat McDougall? Can Goodwin corrupt and manipulate Sara, a former colleague of McDougall, to keep the McDougall, the public, the media and opposition politicians under control as he battles to remain in power for his full five year term of office as he continues to try to mould the UK into whatever it is he wants to to become?

As he continues his machinations the situation in the country rapidly heats up and disorder and violence rapidly breaks out.

Who will win? Who will survive the worsening political maelstrom? 

Wow. What a wild and thrilling ride, with a twist in the tail.

I do hope to read more novels by Colin Wreford, he's a good new voice in the world of thriller fiction.

It's published by Matador at £9.99. 

Jay Blades Joins Forces with Literacy Charity to Inspire Adults to Learn to Read

I am a fan of the hit BBC TV programme The Repair Shop. And Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades will be participating in a new BBC documentary which will follow his journey as he faces up to the challenge of learning to read as an adult with charity Read Easy UK.

As Jay Blades is such an erudite presenter and is a highly skilled furniture restorer, it's a surprise to discover that Jay came to reading very late in life.

In fact Jay concealed his lack of reading skills until he was in his 30s, after he struggled to learn to read as a child. 

It's an unfortunate truth that Jay isn't alone. Because a staggering quarter of all children in England leave primary school like Jay, unable to read  as well as they should.

Almost seven million adults in the UK have very poor literacy skills. And many of them are too embarrassed to come forward to ask for help.

An inability to read properly has an adverse impact on all aspects of daily life. For example, reading signs, checking bills, reading urgent letters, registering to vote, voting itself or even being able to grasp health information. It also makes it hard to support their own children’s learning.

In the programme Jay meets other people who are on the same journey with Read Easy. Viewers will meet Jacky Smith who began learning to read in her 60s. Why? The main driving force was her desire to read with her 7-year-old granddaughter and to help her sister who has become partially sighted.

Jay also meets Jeff George, who at age 32, said: "The most important thing for me is to be able to read stories to my son who has just started school. That’s my goal. I’d also like to be able to understand more at work, and have other options career-wise for the future. Reading will open those doors for me. If I have a chance of something better I’m going to take it”.

Read Easy UK has 50 affiliated groups around the UK with over 1,100 volunteers providing free one-to-one reading coaching for adults who are unable to read. Readers meet volunteer coaches twice weekly to follow ‘Turning Pages’ an adult reading programme originally developed to help prisoners to learn to read..

Says Ginny Williams-Ellis, CEO of Read Easy UK, “Research shows 2.4m adults in England can’t read at all, or can barely read. Not being able to read as an adult is excruciatingly embarrassing for most adults."

She went on to say: "It generally follows years of humiliation at school, when failure to learn to read in the early years will have brought about a lack of ability to take part in the rest of the curriculum as they got older.

“For the vast majority this wasn't their choice, or their fault. It was nothing to do with their intelligence. There are many different reasons why a child might not learn to read in their first years at school. 

"For some, undiagnosed or unsupported dyslexia, or unidentified sight or hearing problems, may have stopped them from learning. Others lacked learning support from parents or carers, or problems at home may make it difficult to concentrate at school.

“Phonics wasn't taught in most schools for many years from the 1960s and consequently many children did not learn the crucial decoding skills needed to make sense of text. It is arguable this had an impact on literacy levels in the UK generally, but it was a particular problem for those who already faced other challenges. So, however difficult it may be, nobody should feel embarrassed to admit that they didn’t get the skills they needed when they were children.

“I would urge any adult who is unable to read properly to have the courage to come forward, like Jay, and ask for help. It really is never too late to learn.”

To find out more about learning to read as an adult with Read Easy visit www.readeasy.org.uk

Had my mother not stepped in and taught me to read and write I believe that my literacy levels would be much lower than they are. My teacher, who, it transpired, didn't even have a teaching qualification(!) couldn't cope with my dyslexia. 

Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 will broadcast on Wednesday 26th January at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Incidentally there are a whole tranche of adults in their 50s and 60s who were initially taught to read and write with the Initial Teaching Alphabet, which proved to be an utter disaster as the plan was for children to have to forget the ITA that they had learned and then to re-learn to read and write using standard English. Many grew up to have severe literacy problems which still negatively impacts on their lives as adults to this day.

You can learn more about the Initial Teaching Alphabet debacle here:-

https://theliteracyblog.com/2015/05/14/i-t-a-a-great-idea-but-a-dismal-failure/

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/ita-initial-teaching-alphabet-anyone-else-a-victim.94314/

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1371807-McNee-Coleman-Great-Reading-Disaster-was-look-say-introduced-to-damage-childrens-reading

Logistics: A Christmas Story

Logistics: A Christmas Story is a new novel from published author Chris Coppel.

Holly Hillman was abandoned at the age of two and a half. She was then raised in an austere fashion. She was kept well away from anything whimsical or fanciful.

Not for Holly were things that other children of her age took for granted. Elves, fairies and Father Christmas meant nothing to her. Because she was taught that such things had no existence. 

Harmless fancies that helped children cope with the harsh realities of life were kept from her.

By the time Holly was in her forties, she was the Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 400 company. She had reached the top of the company by dint of her own hard work. And also by keeping distractions and social attachments out of her life.

But, despite living a life that others would find unattractive and limiting, Holly was perfectly happy in the life that she had selected for herself. In fact, as far as Holly was concerned, her life was perfect and she wouldn't have it any other way.

However, her company was due to merge with a powerful Asian conglomerate and, as part of the due diligence process that always surrounds such mergers, she was required to have a health check, which also required a DNA sample to be taken. But what exactly was the Ling Chow Group up to? 

However, never in her wildest dreams could Holly have been ready for the results of her DNA test. For the DNA test revealed the shocking truth of her amazing and unique ancestry. 

Holly must face a stunning truth about herself that must change not only how she views herself but also life in general and alter her concept of what reality is.

She finds herself in a world of talking reindeers, elves in business suits and of mysterious NDAs and the chance to meet her real father. 

It's a fantastic and fantastical story that is very well told and which contains a great many allegorical truths about life, childhood, business practices, politics and much more besides.

It's published by Troubador on January 28th at £9.99.

Peaky Blinders The Real Story

In his book Peaky Blinders The Real Story historian Professor Carl Chinn MBE tells the real story of The infamous Peaky Blinders gang that were active in Birmingham.

Far from the romanticised version portrayed in the popular television series, the members of the gang were not very nice people. And Professor Chinn should know. On of his ancestors was a member of the notorious gang.

And Professor Chinn should know. His great-grandfather, Edward Derrick, was a member of the gang.

He married Carl's great-grandmother, Ada Weldon. Her married life was extremely unhappy, because Derrick was and abusive, drunken bully who would often smash the house up when he was drunk. On a number of occasions his wife and child would need to seek refuge in the communal brewhouse (the washhouse)  or in the house of Lil's Granny Carey.

She was known as Old Mother Carey and she was a much loved inhabitant of Studley Street. Why wouldn't Derrick pursue his wife and child into Old Mother Carey's house? Like many thuggish bullies Derrick was a coward at heart and was fearful of her several powerful sons.

After putting up with years of his abusive and violent behaviour she took the unusual, for that time, step of divorcing him, using the "Poor Person" under the Supreme Court rules.

Ada died in 1925 aged 39 of stomach cancer, whilst Derrick lived until 1964, in the Midlands town of Nuneaton.

Carl states in his book that he has nothing but contempt for his Peaky Blinders ancestor, who he described as "wife-beater, thief, wastrel and violent ruffian., he was typical of the Peaky Blinders."

He further points out that, unlike the glamorised Peaky Blinders depicted in the television series, they were not dressed in fashionable clothing, they did not "have a certain charm" nor did they "have a certain sense of honour" and the working class of Birmingham had no respect for them and, in fact, they were "mightily relieved" when the Birmingham Police ended their reign of terror, under the direction of the then Chief Constable Charles Haughton Rafter.

Carl then goes on the point out that after the real Paky Blinders were put down, some of the members created the violent and formidable Birmingham Gang which was headed by the real Billy Kimber. 

In 1921 the gang fought a violent, bloody battle against an alliance of London gangs, led by the real life Darby Sabini. The real Alfie Solomon was also involved. They were fighting for control of protection rackets and pickpocketing groups on the racecourses of southern England. 

Interestingly Carl points out that there were no fights in Birmingham, the fights took place in southern England.

He points out that some of the Peaky Blinders gang fought in the First World War and those that returned to their home city were more law-abiding.

Carl tells the pre-history of the Peaky Blinders, of the street gangs that preceded them, the Sloggers of the 1870s, whose name derived from the 1820s bare-knuckled fights and was a term describing a person who could deliver a powerful blow.

He also reveals the story that the Peaky Blinders name was bestowed upon them because it was rumoured that they had disposable razor blades sewn in the peaks of their caps and that in a fight, they would remove their cap and slash their opponent in the face, thus trying to blind them.

The book is a detailed and highly readable account of the real story of this infamous street gang and is very well illustrated with a number of archive photographs.

There are also interviews with people who actually witnessed the events and the book has a comprehensive endnotes section.  

Incidentally, Carl Chinn's family were involved in illegal bookmaking and later legal bookmaking and I should point out that my cousin on my father's side, Ted Rogers, was also a bookmaking contemporary of the Chinn family in Birmingham. It's a small world!

The book is published by John Blake Books at £8.99 in paperback.