A story of crime and self defence
This
is a crime story
with a difference. It is about standing up to
bullies and refusing to be intimidated, even if that means taking
drastic action.
It was inspired by seeing my mother's helpless rage after she was burgled three times by youngsters, while she was in her house. She wanted to fight back but, faced with the boldness of the intruders, and their smug confidence that they could get away with it simply because she was old and frail, she felt powerless and humiliated and furious.
This story (which is not about my mother) takes that suppressed rage to its logical conclusion!
It was inspired by seeing my mother's helpless rage after she was burgled three times by youngsters, while she was in her house. She wanted to fight back but, faced with the boldness of the intruders, and their smug confidence that they could get away with it simply because she was old and frail, she felt powerless and humiliated and furious.
This story (which is not about my mother) takes that suppressed rage to its logical conclusion!
Hannah Meadows, a kindly old lady who never goes out without a hat, is angry with her clever and manipulative grandson, Billy, whose gang attacked her sister Jessie's garden. Seeing how Billy's behaviour threatens to destroy his family - his sisters fear him and his father has lost patience with him, while his mother believes he is an innocent victim - Hannah knows she must do something...
She fears for the safety of her granddaughters, Helen and Veronica, as well as for her elderly neighbours, many of whom are too nervous to go out. Jessie, is now a recluse and will not even open the door to her.
Hannah feels responsible for Billy because of her own guilty secret, and she is tempted to join the 'silver bees'. This is a group of elderly people who are fighting back against crime and vandalism in their neighbourhoods, mainly by turning themselves into walking booby traps. 'If we can't save ourselves from attack,' they say, 'then at least the criminals won't escape either!'
As her past returns to haunt her, Hannah wrestles with her conscience. She hates violence of any kind, but how can she protect her family if she is not prepared to act?
Then there is Hannah's young artist neighbour, Declan, who sees her comings and goings from his attic window, and who is desperately in love with Billy's sister, Veronica...
Revenge
is a kind of
wild
justice which, the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to
weed it out.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
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Read Reviews...
'..absorbingly brilliant...'
Bookloons.com
'Right to the end, the tension is kept up...'
Harry Goode,
Secretary Cambridge Writers
'I was mesmerised by this novel....' Judie Newman
Read all reviews...
In the news...
Cambridge News Sept'08
Available in all good bookshops and on the web
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