Books

I have twelve books to my name. You can see the details on my Amazon page.

My latest book co-written with Monika Sears is EPISODES Two girls, two lives, one time.

A shocking and riveting story of the interwoven lives of two little girls, both born during World War 2.

One lives in England and endures bombing, the Blitz and food rationing. The other is thrown by her mother from a train destined for Treblinka, the concentration camp in Poland. This is a true account of six years of war (1939 – 1945) followed by what should have been relative peace, until the two girls meet, at the age of eleven, and continue a friendship that lasts for seven decades. 

On Writing

All good writers need to read. In an interview the late Margaret Forster was asked how she spent her day. Her reply was: ‘In the morning I write, in the afternoon I go for walks and in the evening I read.’

For those engaged in social media, grappling with too many emails or tweets, this sounds enviably delightful. But while I wondered at Forster’s concentration, I later learned that she spent six months of the year in the Lake District, far from family or friends.  I also read, write and walk, but these are the only ways in which I am similar to the great novelist.

For some years I have been keeping a note of every book I read. This is usually a page of comment opposite some quotations written in a large leather bound book. The reason I do this is because I often forget details (or sometimes even the plot or the characters) so when the film of a novel comes out, I happily refer back to my notes to remind me, so I can compare the book with the screen version.

I shall shortly be recommending books I have read and enjoyed. This may take the form of actual book reviews, but for the moment this section is confined to a list of the books I have published. This picture shows five of my cookbooks and two novels. I am sometimes asked which I prefer: writing or cooking.

I reply ‘I love both, but on separate days.’