Grammar school broken background. Very varied employment but mainly self employed as indisposed to control. Captivated by adventure stories from an early age. Always wanted to write but never had the time before retirement. Just written a novel called :
This is an account of a recalcitrant Englishman in his fifties who discovers an idyllic house in remote and rural France and endeavours to retire and live over there with his wife. That is where any similarity with any other such tales ends.
The subject, in his attempts to achieve his desires, encounters difficulties, not the least of which are with the authorities of his homeland. In an effort to understand the present, the writer attempts to discover the past by tracing back to the man’s early childhood and schooldays, through to his emerging delinquency and resultant detention at a remand home, shortly before he was detained at an approved school for two years, back in the early sixties. Not only does the story reveal the explicit brutality of such a life, it is written in a compellingly honest style that portrays the naive and simple humour of the situation of youth and circumstance, as seen through the eyes of the young rogues and adventurers who were relieved of their liberty for their misdemeanours, the like of which, compared to the deeds of many of their modern culpable counterparts, would today seem trifling by comparison.
After his release back into the community, over forty years elapse during which time the character largely manages to evade the wrath of society, in spite of the efforts of the Inland Revenue who have been attempting to acquire a larger share of his hard earned income for a number of years.
Then, just as things seem to be finally fitting into place, the rebel is summoned to appear before a Judge, to provide good reason why he should not be committed to prison, which had been the nightmare born way back in his childhood and from which he had never truly escaped.
Other tales have been told about people moving to France, other tales have been told about youths in detention, but this unique and fascinating narrative amounts to an enlightening and entertaining account of both issues. No one who has come from the sixties or anyone whose curiosity may seek an alternative account of the supposed swinging generation should miss the read, neither should anyone who loves France, or indeed anyone less fortunate. As to whether it is fact or fiction, we should prefer that the reader draw their own conclusion.
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