5 June 2014

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My six paragraphs this week are taken from part one of 
Remnants of Dreams.
 Click on cover to visit Amazon where it is available on Kindle.

 

She sat down again and Arty climbed on her lap. While she stroked his hair she watched Mathew King working. How could she have mistaken him for Arthur? He was ugly, with bushy eyebrows to match his thatch of hair. He was powerfully built and stocky. Built like an ox, she thought, turning her mouth down. Probably with the brains of one too, she surmised.


He turned, and for long seconds stared at her over Arty's head. She was the first to break the contact, shivering at the strange feeling rippling through her. It was a sort of panicky sensation, as if she'd somehow been cut in two and examined. As if he could see right into her head.


"There--all fixed, ma'am," he said, and Alicia jumped. With strong looking fingers he combed his errant curls back, but the lock shot forward again. "It was just a blockage. Should be right as rain now."


"Would you stay for a cup of tea?" Alicia found herself offering. For the life of her she couldn't understand why she'd asked. Why on earth did she want to delay this scruffy, oafish man? His eyes, fringed by thick dark lashes, were very unnerving and direct. 


He nodded as he rubbed at the side of his straight nose. Alicia gave his creased dark grey trousers and crumpled blue and white striped shirt a disdainful going over. He'd taken his coat off before starting work. He was tieless and a mat of dark curls peeped through the vee at his throat. He was altogether too unsettling as he shifted from one foot to the other in boots sorely in need of polish.


"Don't mind if I do," he agreed quietly. 

                  ***************************
Remnants of Dreams moves from the horrors of the 1914-1918 war to the 1990s, and paints an unforgettable picture of a changing world and of working class people in North London whose only riches are love and the knowledge that they did their best.

  
Alicia’s indomitable spirit sustains her and her large family through two wars, illness, death and loss. From her mother’s example Sara finds the courage to escape an intolerable situation and forge a new life in a new country. 

Originally published as Traces of Dreams this book won the Romance Writer's of Australia Romantic Book of the Year

"This book touched me deeply. Perhaps that's because I was born in North London and the places and people were familiar. I could not put it down. I can honestly say it is one of the best in the genre I have read." 5 stars Violet

"I loved this story, although there were times when I felt tears welling in my eyes and an enormous lump in my throat. This story touched me deeply, and I won't forget it. This is a novel of great emotional depth." Kay James for Romance Reader at Heart

"If you think this is a predictable novel you will miss not only a sweeping story of joy and sorrow, triumph and tragedy, but also an amazing overview of the century seen through a family saga." Mary Allyce 

"Miss McGill continues the tradition of Angela's Ashes with this intimate look of two generations facing the grim threat of war. It deals with the heartbreak of death and the recovery only love can bring. At moments it's tear jerking, but you won't want to stop until the last page, to learn how they juggle both the heartache and the romance." Timeless Tales


 









2 comments:

  1. I identified with Alicia right away because I also sometimes make snap judgments. Good introduction.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me too, Rhobin, and have been proved wrong in some cases just as Alicia was. Appearances can be deceptive.

    ReplyDelete

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