novels • short stories • flash fiction
A trilogy following a
nefarious progress to riches
and one tale of sorrow.
•
These novellas bring a colourful insight
into two completely different worlds,
one of avarice and one of repression.
From a Dark Cell
"Confined to a filthy dark cell
not even knowing
who you are."
Abducted to the fetid hell hole of an old coal cellar,
not knowing why, not even remembering her name,
a young woman has to recall her past.
And escape the present.
Waking up to total darkness is unnerving. Not knowing where you are makes it worse. Not knowing why, torments you even more. And the real nightmare? Not even recalling your own name.
Fearing for her life, a successful young woman has to work out who she is, and who has abducted her, before she can make sense of her squalid confinement. In coming to terms with her seemingly hopeless predicament, she must force her mind into planning an escape. But, weakened by a paltry diet and mental torture, has she the strength to outwit her abductor? To make a final move?
And what will be the outcome, if she does?
Will she survive to get her life back?
From a Dark Past
"Putting her past behind her,
will Anna find new happiness,
or far more woe?"
Reinventing herself helps hide the traumas of old,
but finding a new man in her life leads to new temptations,
and fuels aspirations that lead to tragedy.
Anna has been happily settled in her beachside bungalow for a few years since leaving her dark past behind her. She's reinvented herself, with a new look, a new job, and new perspective on life, focusing her attention on bringing up her daughter Chloé.
Then Gray arrives on her doorstep, and she sees a different future ahead.
But is she attracted to more than just his fitness and physique when she delves into his past and finds new possibilities?
Or is it another, Antoine, who will prove the key to her future ambitions, despite bringing another dark episode to her eventful life?
From a Dark Heart
"Will past secrets emerge
to threaten and
destroy Anna's dreams?"
Everything seems to have fallen into place,
with a new home and thriving business,
until a surprise encounter disturbs all her plans.
Now married to Gray Sowerby, Anna has moved to a new luxury home overlooking Poppit Sands and her own business venture is expanding, with a new branch in the offing. However, she can't completely escape her past and more than one surprise awaits her. Secrets which she must keep from Gray and her daughter Chloé or all their worlds will fall apart.
Meeting Margot Thomas, an Aberystwyth estate agent, she finds a ready rapport. But will Margot prove to be a good friend or a devious foe. The return of Antoine, thought to be safely back in France, provides the key to that.
Gray, with building partner Jed Evans, is having his own success beyond the businesses inherited from his grandfather and Anna now feels assured of her financial future.
So, her own secrets seemingly buried, she can relax and enjoy her elevated place in life. Until a new secret surfaces. One coming from Gray's past. And tragedy strikes again.
Emilia’s Sorrow
"Your sister's death
on your conscience
is a huge burden"
Emilia may have tormented her sister,
but did her actions lead to Hannah's tragic demise.
What really happened on that fateful day
and who was really to blame.
When an old, tattered, post war schoolgirl’s private journal is found hidden in the base of an antique display cabinet, a sorrowful tale is unearthed. Once the worn and faded pages are separated and transcribed, the heartfelt worries of a young girl, Emilia, unfold. She has just lost her younger sister, Hanna, in tragic circumstances, and her own feelings of guilt and anxiety are revealed against the background of a social climbing mother and a white-collar father, who is less than enthusiastic about his wife’s societal activities.
From Emilia's journal pages, written over a period of just a few weeks, we learn of the family’s Polish and Welsh heritage, the old fashioned values impressed upon their family life in an Edwardian built house and the mother’s repression of Emilia in favour of Hanna. For Emilia, there is an undercurrent of envy, rendered by torment, selfishness and control of her younger sibling, which she believes influenced her own actions on the day of the tragic accident. Or was it just an accident? Is it she who should truly be to blame?