|
|
HomeGo to main siteEvents / other sitesTales of Hull & ERBook ReviewsFictionShort storiesNon-fictionPoetryAuthor - Annie WilkinsonAuthor - Avril Field-TaylorAuthor - Bruce EssarAuthor - Clive AshmanAuthor - Danny BirchAuthor - Daphne GlazerAuthor - David BrettAuthor - Dorothea DesforgesAuthor - Karen WolfeAuthor / explorer - Karl BushbyAuthor - Leslie WilkieAuthor - Linda AcasterAuthor - Nick QuantrillAuthor - Paul GenneyAuthor - Penny GrubbAuthor - Peter JonesAuthor - Richard SutherlandAuthor - Robert AdamsAuthor - Robert EdricAuthor - Simon KerrAuthor - Steven HallAuthor - Stuart AkenAuthor - Tim RouxAuthor - Tricia WalkerAuthor - Valerie WoodAuthor - Winifred HoltbyPoet - Andrew MarvelPoet - Andrew MotionPoet - Carol CoiffatPoet - Chris DawberPoet - Christopher ReidPoet - Cliff ForshawPoet - Daithidh MacEochaidhPoet - David WheatleyPoet - Frank RedpathPoet - Holly RoachPoet - Ian ParksPoet - Nick BoldockPoet - Pete MorganPoet - Peter ArdernPoet - Peter KnaggsPoet - Philip LarkinPoet - Stevie SmithPoet - TF GriffinPoet -Tony FlynnChildren's booksSports writingContact us
|
Waterstones in Hull are extremely supportive of Hull
& East Riding writers, and carry a stock of many of the books mentioned on this site.
Annie Wilkinson
The daughter of a Durham miner, Annie Wilkinson now lives in Hull where she works full-time as a health visitor.
'For King and Country'
August, 1918. World War I is entering its final desperate
stages. A generation of young men have given up their lives for their country - and the young women left behind are hard put
to find a husband. When she learns that her handsome sweetheart has been killed in action, Sally Wilde decides to dedicate
her life to nursing. It's not the life she'd imagined as a wife and mother, but the work at Newcastle City Hospital is fulfilling
and rewarding. Although fraternisation with doctors and patients is strictly forbidden, Sally finds herself drawn to an Australian
officer on her ward. But behind his facial injuries, Lieutenant Kit Maxfield is hiding a shocking secret, a secret that will
lead Sally into great danger - and change the course of her life forever.
"Another cracking read from Annie Wilkinson,
and one that should be obligatory for all frontline hospital workers to see what went into keeping down ward and wound infections
before the discovery of antibiotics. The descriptions of young Sally Wilde coping with seriously wounded, and traumatised,
soldiers returning from the trenches was wonderfully counterbalanced by the camaraderie of the nurses, as deceit and inequities
manifest in society at the close of WW1 are explored. I've found the historical detail in all her novels deftly integrated,
and this one has the sort of page-turning grip that makes me realise why I read."
'No Price Too high'
Shattered by the bitter end of a passionate love affair, Lizzie Wilde leaves her native north east to seek fame and fortune on the London stage. Determined to make her own way in the world, she vows to have nothing more to do with men. She'll not let her heart be broken again. So when she meets the handsome Captain Ashton, Lizzie resists his persistent advances. There can be no future in any romance. An officer and a gentleman would never marry a lowly actress. Besides, there are other matters to worry about. With German bombs raining down on London and the menfolk fighting in France, Lizzie must face the fact that the country is in the midst of a terrifying war - and every meeting with Captain Ashton might be her last. But just as she dares to hope they might have a future, their love is put to the sternest of tests.
"Annie Wilkinson does it again! "No Price
Too High" is the third in the series of historical dramas set in the early years of the 20th century and centred on members
of the Wilde family from a Durham mining community. There is always a strong theme resonating between the subject and the
characters with her novels, and this time it is Betrayal: by lovers, by family, by peers, by country.
Jilted by her faithless middle-class lover who, as a minor character in "Winning A Wife", hypocritically espoused Socialism, Lizzie Wilde leaves behind abortionists and prying neighbours to carve herself a career on the stages of London. With her heart encased in steel, she shuns flatterers and the realities of war until Zeppelin raids on the unprotected city make her realise how precarious is her livelihood and how shabby her single room. When Captain Ashton sends not flowers but his batman offering to meet any price for a night in her company, she sends him off with a £100 flea in his ear. But the money arrives, and the decision Lizzie makes cuts the first tiny chink in her armoured heart.
Annie Wilkinson's novels are high on historical data. If you've ever wondered exactly what Fred Karno's Army was, or what it feels like to have the guns from the Somme tinkle glass in London, this is your read. And she doesn't pull her punches in the trenches, either. This is a love story without the rosy-coloured specs. Enjoy."
'Winning A Wife'
Pit deputy John Wilde knows it's high time he settled down and found himself a wife. Elsie Harley, the butcher's pretty daughter, seems a worthy candidate. But although she at first encourages his courtship, Elsie abruptly changes her mind for reasons John cannot understand. John's wounded pride is soothed by his growing friendship with another attractive young woman. Feisty and outspoken, Alice Peters' passionate support of the suffragette cause is bound to make her unpopular among the traditional mining community. But her fervent political beliefs are destined to lead her into far more serious trouble. Elsie, meanwhile, is hiding a shameful secret - a secret that's about to cause widespread disruption in the close-knit village of Annsdale.
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was surprised to find a continuous male viewpoint in a women's regional saga, but it worked extremely well in this novel of injustice and hypocrisy, making the reader see that there were so many more sides to life than the rich/poor, male/female, expectation/duty.
It is set in a Durham pit village in the early 1900s and follows members of the Wilde family, introduced in 'A Sovereign for a Song', but I think this is a better book because it works on more levels. It is the era of the suffragettes and the beginning of trade unions and the Labour Party. Everyone in the family wants to better themselves in different ways. Seen mostly through John's eyes as all the women in his life strive for what they want, the ideals and the reality sometimes make odd bedfellows, and the book itself makes the reader think about what is now taken so much for granted. I'd certainly recommend 'Winning a Wife', and hope it isn't too long before her next one comes out."
'ASovereign For A Song'
As a poverty-stricken miner's daughter growing up in the small village of Annsdale, near Durham, fifteen-year-old Ginny Wilde yearns for adventure. But she gets more than she bargained for when her dark good looks, fiery spirit and beautiful singing voice catch the eye of the unscrupulous Charlie Parkinson, her employer's brother. Fleeing the wrath of her irate father when he discovers his daughter's flirtation with the notorious womaniser, Ginny heads for London, where Charlie seduces her and puts her to work on the stage as a music hall artiste. As she embarks on a hugely successful singing career, Ginny remains unhappy at Charlie's continual refusal to marry her and descends into an increasingly louche lifestyle. Can she ever find the courage to leave Charlie and return to her beloved north east? And will she ever be able to recapture the heart of her one true love, miner Martin Jude?
"This book rattled along at a great pace. It
was so engrossing that I read it in a day. The detail about life at the turn of the century was fascinating and the characters
were so real that it made me cry on more than one occasion. Ginny is probably one of the best heroines since Scarlett O'Hara!
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a really good read."
|
