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Sien offers an insight into the life of one of the most enigmatic characters in history. It’s her story, told by her, in her own voice. It’s a love story in the true sense of the word, between a woman and a man who just wanted to be together, but who weren’t allowed that simple desire.

Clasina Maria Hoornik was born in The Hague on 22nd February 1850, the eldest of eleven children. She was forced to turn to prostitution to help support the family.

Van Gogh’s relationship with Sien made a huge impact on his way of drawing, and it served to build his character and influence his later, now famous, oil paintings. He helped her when he himself was in need of help and lacking the luxury of money. Van Gogh despaired of her rejection by “respectable society” and the loss of his little family.

Lauren Frances is an avant-garde artist whose work has been the subject of book covers, exhibitions and was even used on Paris streets during the “yellow vest” protests in 2018. She has applied her extensive knowledge and admiration of the work of Vincent van Gogh in Sien, her debut novel, planned as the first in a trilogy.

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This book is based on true facts in the life of a young lad from Gateshead, in northeast England.

Geordie lived in a one-bedroom, upstairs flat with his Mam, his Dad and his seven brothers and sisters.  He had a way of attracting trouble and the police were forever at the front door. 

At the age of eight fate struck him a blow that would change his life forever after an accident triggered epileptic fits.

This is the story of how Geordie coped when his life changed dramatically and he was sent to an institution in the south of England.

From the Gateshead Post, Friday 17 March 1950

“A ten-year-old boy found hiding underneath a shop counter, with five shillings taken from the till, gave the assistant a false asddress. Inspector Mark Wood told Gateshead Juvenile magistrates this was the third case of theft charges the boy faced. The lad, who had also been charged with stealing a torch and a torch case, was said by the probation officer to be intelligent, but with no sense of right or wrong.

After it was stated that he suffered from epileptic fits it was decided to commit him to a remand home whilst efforts were made to accommodate him in a centre where he could be properly treated.”

The year is 1988.

The Cold War is ending.

Europe’s near-abroad unlocks …

… and a 30-year-old Londoner attempts a road trip from France to western Turkey with a vintage Bentley – the book’s eponymous heroine. Their journey unfolds into a circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea. The Bentley’s heroic skittishness is a source of comedy and woe. She proves an antidote to the author’s frustration with his non-committal girlfriend at home.

This book will appeal to adventurers and travellers, to students of human nature and of late-20th-century European history, to classic-car enthusiasts and petrolheads, and to all who enjoy a gripping story.

The Lady With No Name forms Part One of the Borderline Pass trilogy.

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The year is 1988. The Cold War is ending. Europe’s near-abroad unlocks … and a 30-year-old Londoner attempts a road trip from France to western Turkey in a vintage Bentley. A journey that unfolds into a beautifully described circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The next expedition was to ride a Russian copy of a German WWII military motorcycle with sidecar from Moscow to Madrid, but … 

In the final episode, the author and his new bride drive a condemned VW Beetle from Tuscany, through the Bosnian war zone, into Albania in the search for an idyll. 

This span of eight years gives a kerbside view of late twentieth-century Europe, a time and place already unfamiliar. 

www.fd.gg

Children love being read to by the adults in their lives. However, many adults don’t feel confident about reading expressively, so don’t enjoy it as much as they could. How to Enjoy Reading Aloud to Young Children is full of advice and practice on how have fun – with obvious benefits for child and adult.

If you’d like a print copy or a PDF please contact me

Perdita and the May People

Perdita lives in a world of books and stories, but real life is just as full of exciting things: dancing archaeologists, para-gliding grannies, maypoles and ancient wells and strange music … and two more people called Perdita. And they all seem to be connected…

Perdita and the Midsummer People (comes with a long short story, ‘What Didn’t Happen at Samhain’)

First there is a lady chained to a birch tree, and then Perdita sees a huge White Horse where there isn’t one, and then there is a farmer ploughing dangerously close to a fairy ring … And the wild Midsummer festivals are coming closer and closer …

Perdita and the Christmas People, or, What Happened at Tolpuddle

Perdita knows that in all the best books, there are families with lots of cousins and they have lots of adventures. So, when her family and her cousins spend Christmas together in a huge old house at a village called Tolpuddle, she knows what ought to happen. But will it?

Peter Hunt was the first Professor of Children’s Literature in the UK: he now writes books for his grandchildren, which is much more fun.

In the first two groups the themes are developed in personal terms, grounded in a strong sense of place – growing up in Sheffield and, latterly, living in Denmark. 

Groups three and four widen the perspective, first through exploring the relationship between poetry and the visual arts, and then by facing up to major issues in the contemporary world, notably the maltreatment of Planet Earth and the ongoing climate crisis.

A distinctive feature of this collection is the grouping of poems that link poetry to the other arts – to music, to paintings, to reimaginings of classical literature – where the themes of time and memory find expression in a range of forms. 

Michael Benton taught English for ten years in secondary schools in London and Manchester before taking up a Lectureship at Southampton University. He retired in 2001 as Emeritus Professor of Education. His many articles and books have made a notable contribution to literary education for over fifty years.

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England, 1960.

The ‘swinging’ decade is about to blossom but nineteen-year-old Sorika Broadbent is no swinger. Unhappy with her London job, she retreats home to Aunt Esme, her surrogate mother.

Abandoned by her own mother, her father dead, her self-confidence at rock-bottom, Sorika’s future looks far from rosy. But a chain of unexpected events starts her on a quest to find the mysterious talisman – and her mother, the woman for whom it was intended.

Would she succeed? What, or who, would she find along the way? Will she find her own identity?

‘Lucinda’s third novel has all the ingredients for a great read. As we follow Sorika from Berkshire to Devon to Virginia, USA, in her search for the elusive talisman – and for the mother who abandoned her – drama, passion, despair and humour all combine with an intriguing bunch of characters to keep the reader absorbed.’ Yeo Valley Literary Circle

Malone finds himself caught in the middle of a turf war between Irish racketeers, the Russian Mafia and a Columbian cartel. And so, he loses the plot. But can he get it back before he loses everything … including his life?