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Books > Fiction > True stories > General
"In an age of increasing international insecurity, the concept of
home becomes of still greater importance, as does our relationship
with other races and cultures. This account of an American-born
woman of Ukrainian extraction, married for 50 years to a Devon
farmer, offers a small but entrancing vision of what unlikely
meetings of culture, blood and tradition can produce. This wise and
spirited account of one woman's life suggests how old traditions,
transplanted, can become renewed and how brave life choices can
generate creative outcomes. I read Karen's story with the kind of
quiet pleasure that only the truly authentic can deliver." - Salley
Vickers
Just A Shot Away:69 Revisited is veteran author-journalist Kris
Needs' highly-personal account of 1969 as he experienced it
happening; from starting the year as a wide-eyed 14-year-old
Rolling Stones/Hendrix nut and turning 15 the day Brian Jones died
to becoming part of the UK's longest-running club and befriending
its hottest new band. There have been endless books that take a
well-researched look at that tumultuous year but few that actually
live it in real time. Rather than recycle hoary cliches about
Manson and Altamont snuffing the 60s after Woodstock's brief
optimism, or any ludicrous rivalry between the Beatles and Stones,
Kris remembers the gigs, bands and records that bombarded his own
young radar and helped shape his future life as a music writer, DJ
and, briefly fan club secretary. With John Peel a lifeline, 1969
was pivotal for Kris, including the births of the legendary Friars
Aylesbury rock club, for which he designed the membership card and
flyers, Pete Frame's Zigzag magazine, which he later wrote for
before becoming editor, and Mott The Hoople, who he befriended
after they played his school dance and ended up running their fan
club. As a member of the Jimi Hendrix fan club, he witnessed the
guitarist in concert, plunging himself in black music and becoming
fascinated with the Black Power movement. As a lifelong Stones fan,
he saw them early and ended up hanging out with Keith Richards in
later years. There was never time to care about the death of a
decade in which he was coming alive, let alone any loss of
innocence when he couldn't lose his fast enough. With Foreword by
his mentor Pete Frame, Kris's 45 year career as a music writer
impacts on the narrative time machine fashion, including sessions
with Keith Richards, Captain Beefheart, George Clinton and Marianne
Faithfull, epic conversations with Ian Hunter, the Doors, the Magic
Band, the Fugs, Traffic, Silver Apples, Last Poets, "voice of
Woodstock" Chip Monck and many more. Obviously, the book gains
perspectives and knowledge from 50 years reading, writing,
listening, investigating and living a life the teenage Needs (or
anyone else, for that matter!) could never have imagined, some of
those leading characters becoming lifelong friends. The book also
carries a sad back story as, while Kris was writing it, his beloved
partner Helen, who he fell in love with at a Mott The Hoople
reunion gig in 2013, succumbed to cancer, his grief inevitably
tangible and casting a tragic shadow over the story. Helen's death
instilled a greater appreciation of life when it was just getting
under way, along with the romantic notion that none of his many
experiences can ever compare to finding his true soul mate. Helen's
death resulted in Kris moving back to the family home with his
93-year-old mum; now writing in the same bedroom where he
experienced 1969 as it unfolded, and still getting told to turn
down his Rolling Stones records! Once Kris finished writing the
book, it was twice as long as the average music tome so will now
come in two volumes, each covering half that year.
Rosemarie Smith has written her autobiography in three parts;
Little Molly, Molly II: Am I who I should be? and Molly III: The
Untold Story. Having suffered, child abuse she reached a point
where she had totally given up on life and felt that the long hard
battle to survive just wasn't worth the pain anymore. In Molly III
she gives a true account of what it was like suffering severe
physical and mental abuse as a child and then to go on suffering
throughout most of her life. Just as she had given up on society
and every Government body, came a massive break-through and as a
result of that, on July 12th 2017, a judge ruled 'life in prison'
for her childhood abuser and said, "Rosemarie Smith's statement of
facts was `so compelling....' he believed abuser, John Wass had
committed every single sexual and indecent act that his victims had
given evidence on!
Fifteen women. Fifteen inspirational stories. From highly
influential individuals in politics, to award-winning leaders and
inspirational philanthropists, to ordinary women who have embraced
British life, a range of Punjabi women all share personal stories
of racism, gender inequality and the partition of India and
Pakistan. Together and alone they overcame adversity and dealt with
the complexities of embracing dual identities and balancing a
career with family life. Some even share their experiences of the
partition of India in 1947 as well as the Jallianwallah Bagh
Massacre, 1919. The first in a series of books, Voices from Punjab
will resonate with readers as they accompany the women on their
unique journeys. Different in many ways, ultimately each woman has
a common background - coming from Punjab to celebrate their
triumphs over cultural differences and gender stereotypes in the
UK.
It will make you laugh and it will make you cry: Felix The Railway
Cat is the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling, extraordinary tale of a
close-knit community and its amazing bond with a very special cat.
'The global sensation' Daily Telegraph ________ When Felix arrived
at Yorkshire's Huddersfield Train Station as an eight-week-old
kitten, no one knew just how important this little ball of fluff
would become. Although she has a vital job to do as 'Senior Pest
Controller', Felix is much more than just an employee of
TransPennine Express. Felix changes lives in surprising ways. She
is always ready to leap into action and save the day: from bringing
a boy with autism out of his shell to providing comfort to a
runaway child shivering on the platform one night. So when tragedy
hits the team at Huddersfield, it is only Felix who can pull them
back together. But a chance friendship with a commuter that she
waits for her on the platform every morning finally gives Felix the
recognition she deserves, catapulting her to international stardom
. . . Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to
Prostate Cancer UK (registered charity 1005541, SC039332).
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