Troubador Publishing strana 4 z 16

BANG!!’… "What was that sound?!" asks an inquisitive 9-year-old Bean. "It was a balloon bursting" responds his seemingly sure-footed father Meabo. "Was there a bang inside the balloon?" responds the now even more confused child. As is often the case with children, a simple question can easily lead a conversation down a rabbit hole of what, why, when, and how. So begins a journey deeper (both physiologically and intellectually) than Bean had ever thought possible. In a world where information is literally at our fingertips, it’s easy to just respond with an answer to an ostensibly basic question from a child. Simple factual answers often lack context, and abstract analogies can provide even further confusion. The graphic educational fiction novel ‘What was that BANG?!’ is a dialogue between two characters Meabo, and his son Bean. Through playful conversation, the characters take readers through the journey a sound can take from source to conscious perception. Beyond leaving children with just scientific facts, the story encourages active questioning, developing logical thought processes, and instilling a growth mindset.

Germany 1920. A new political movement is born. It is led by a charismatic ex-serviceman whose aim is to create a ‘National Community’ in the war-devastated country. His followers call him ‘Führer.’ But this is not Adolf Hitler. His name is Friedrich Lamberty, better known as Muck, and his methods are very different from Hitler’s. He and his followers, who call themselves the New Crowd, trek through the centre of Germany singing, dancing and playing with local people. By the end of 1920 they have brought hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes to join in a ‘revolution of the soul.’ But then an unexpected and shocking development causes the New Crowd to break up. Muck disappears from the scene as quickly as he arrived. The story of Muck-Lamberty’s rise and fall, told here for the first time in English, throws new light on Germany in the early twentieth century. It examines the country’s unique youth movement, the impact on young people of world war and revolution, the strange post-war dance craze, the revolution in sexual behaviour, and the development of new ways of thinking about what it meant to be German - and Jewish. In each of these areas, Muck-Lamberty is compared with Adolf Hitler to find out why he was initially more successful than the Nazi leader, but then failed to establish himself as a ‘Führer.’

Harry is a gifted musician rising to fame in post-war London. In the heady 1950s London Jazz scene, he falls in love with - and hastily marries- a young socialite, Caroline. Caroline suffers a violent sexual assault, but she feels ashamed and unable to confide in anyone. Under the weight of this secret, the nascent marriage fails. The novel then follows the couple’s separate lives into the next generation, where the effects of damaged relationships, misunderstanding and betrayed trust are still felt. Time passes, and they appear settled in their lives when the truth is revealed in an unexpected way and with surprising consequences.

When Allan Richards boarded a plane to New Zealand at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he knew time was running out. His mother was dying. He also knew he’d face two weeks of government-mandated quarantine before he could reach her, but the reality of that isolation proved harder than he ever imagined. Her Son’s Love is a tender, heart-wrenching account of those fourteen days, drawn from diary entries and later reflections. It traces the raw terrain of hope and helplessness, the weight of love and loss, and the healing of returning home. Woven through the narrative are links to piano pieces composed and performed by the author, each highlighting emotional turns of the story. Set against the backdrop of a world shut down, this honest memoir speaks to anyone who has suffered the heartbreak of separation, and honours the bonds of love that endure beyond it.

It’s an idyllic Christmas Eve, snow is lying all around, and there’s a calm around the village of Belvedere St Anne. Or is there…..“Here I want you to uncover the secret.Hide away the sacred jewels.They are to be stolen by the Church.Thieves I cannot conceal them anymore.Go to the general grave……”The mysterious message on the vestry wall - what can it mean? The sacred jewels – to be stolen by the Church - surely that could not happen? And Separately, Dougie and Ruby spot him. A spooky stranger in the village - what was he doing there? And are these events all connected..? Far from calm, something mysterious is going on. Dougie calls together the Cheery Gang and they find themselves in a race both against the clock and also against the scary and mysterious Stranger in the Churchyard…Follow the Cheery Gang in this latest adventure – unexpected twists lie inside..

Straad is a drifter, searching for less shallowness in his life. He longs for Cláragh. She ambushes his busy days and haunts his lonely nights. She looks past the mirror of his eyes and sees into his soul. But she is also obsessed by another and questions whether she is ready to commit. Cláragh and Straad’s fervid affair dominates this tale. But here also are the affairs of their friends; a perfect one to never end, a forever dead one to live again, a forbidden one to find the light. There is hatred and death, longing and betrayal, but all is a journey. A story which questions the times in our lives when we are forced to make decisions; some made on a whim, some driven by obsession, some made by others. These are choices which affect ourselves, our lovers, and our descendants, forever. After making these decisions, do we get another chanc? darkly humorous story of living, longing, dying. Questioning commitment and desire.

Defying the disbelief of friends and colleagues, Geraldine’s parents decided to bring up their family on board a sailing boat, determined to turn their seafaring dream into reality. In 1946 her father is given six months to live and invalided from the Royal Navy. Yet, gradually, with the help of friends and the generosity of strangers, dreams became reality. The Griffin daughters grew up to love the freedom of the sea learning their art from an early age. Geraldine learned to navigate by the stars and to maintain the traditional sails and rigging. While still children, this crew of sisters became Registered British Seamen. In 1965 women, let alone girls, were rarely considered as competent crew, yet they couldn’t have been more ready as they set off across the Atlantic. Sailing the family’s sturdy 50ft ketch with “Captain Cook’s instruments along Christopher Columbus’s route”, there was no satnav, no autopilot, no telephone, just a compass, sextant, paper charts, ample provisions and 100gallons of water. This memoir is a saga of delights, lazy sailing days, mid-Atlantic swims and celebrations; of adversity, storms and disaster. It delivers a unique story of optimism and resilience. It is also a story of coming of age.

Psssst... Come and meet the Hawkins family... There''s Harry 8 years old, the eldest of the children who does the smelliest of farts. Then there''s Ben 6, who likes to mend things, taking them apart, then has trouble putting them back together. What about Ruby 5, the only girl in the family who just talks and talks and TALKS. The baby of the bunch is Jonny aged 3, who lives for his trains (choo choo!). And not forgetting Dad, who singlehandedly brings the children up, ensuring that they look out for each other, as their individual characters and personalities grow within each story. In this story, the whole family—Harry, Ben, Ruby, Jonny, Dad, and grandparents visit the funfair. Each has a favourite ride, but which will they choose first? Is the Helter Skelter too high, or is Cowboy City too wild? Are the Bumpy Cars too fast for the grandparents? Which ride will be the best of all?

It doesn't always pay to return to the golden places of our childhood. At eight years-old, Michael Western was sent to stay on Anglesey while his parents worked out their acrimonious divorce. During that brief holiday, he fell under the spell of 9-year-old Olwen, the favourite child of the little town where she lived. For Michael this was a period when he felt safe and valued. Now, 25 years later, he returns to Anglesey with his wife and quaint daughter Tottie to find Olwen, feeling that a meeting with her will bless Tottie's childhood just as his own was blessed. On arriving on Anglesey, Michael makes a shocking discovery and realises that none of the adults he knew as a child can be trusted. He has a mystery to solve.

To be at peace is to be free. Free of anxiety, stress, fear, anger, loneliness, and all the other disturbing reactions that diminish our enjoyment of life. Free in the realisation that to be truly happy and fulfilled, we have nothing to achieve - that the peaceful joy of our true nature has just become obscured by a misconception: the belief that we are lacking in some way. A belief that leads us to seek fulfilment in our relationships, in how we look, what we do and what we have. However, despite all that we have obtained and achieved, we still haven't found what we are looking for because the wholeness we seek is not outside of ourselves; it is within us. We already are that which we have been searching for, and every moment offers the opportunity to realise this - that the freedom of inner peace is our natural state of being and it is here, now. Practical and empowering examples, suggestions and practices, together with relevant experiences and insights from the author's eventful journey through life, guide the reader to understand their own life experience, to let go of unhelpful beliefs and habits, and awaken to the peaceful freedom of their true nature.

Orphaned Sally Ann lives in the Msawi Nature Reserve with her grandfather, happy, settled and on the verge of adulthood. The unexpected arrival of Willem Van Cleef however starts a chain of events that no one could have foreseen. Willem is bewitched by Sally Ann’s youthful beauty, but she immediately dislikes him. Jealous of her close relationship with Blondi, her grandfather’s deputy, Willem struggles to forge the relationship with her that he so desires. Meanwhile Blondi, aware of Willem’s interest, realises his platonic love for Sally Ann has grown into something much deeper. He is desperate not to lose her to another man. Set in the fictitious Msawi Nature Reserve, the story explores its rich wildlife and the stunning archaeological find at Lizard Rock as well as the unique customs and deep spirituality of the gentle Msawi tribe. When the youngsters have the chance to take part in one of their ancient ceremonies however, they find that they have a much greater role to play than they could have expected as their personalities are tested in the build up to the finale.

“Gentlemen! What stands between us and strangling Britain’s merchantmen and bringing her to her knees, is not the fury of the sea, or the violence of her Navy, but the obstinate stubbornness of the British sailor.” Cousins Jack Lee and Emma Pickney and the attractive and charismatic Ranulph form an awkward love triangle. This explodes as they sail the Northern seas off Shetland in the summer of 1939 with the war clouds gathering. Jack, a Merchant Navy deck officer, finds himself in the front line of Hitler’s U-boat war, battling for survival in the turbulent waters of the North Atlantic, while clinging to his love for Emma. Ranulph, a salvage diver, is determined to evade the war. However, of the three, he is the first casualty, driven mad by the carnage wrought on the Battleship HMS Royal Oak, torpedoed in Scapa Flow in a daring attack by U-boat No.47. Joachim Endrass, U47’s 1st Officer and the man who fired the torpedoes that sowed the destruction Ranulph witnessed, feels destined for great things. However, instead of his own U-boat, Endrass has foisted on him the angry Lieutenant Elrich and a new commander who for him, symbolises everything that is wrong with Hitler’s Third Riech. Disgruntled, he returns to the Atlantic as Germany’s attempt to strangle Britain''s Atlantic lifelines reaches a climax, with no inkling of the dramatic and incredible events that lie ahead.

Alys is an orphan, raised by her grandfather in a mining town in South Wales. Determined to escape her fate, she believes she has found the means when she meets and falls in love with the son of the mine owner. But when Monsieur de Rohan has his son kidnapped and shipped to New Zealand, Alice is left at the altar, alone and miserable. Then she meets Tom, a Geordie who has come to Merthyr Tydfil on his way to Barry, who falls in love with Alys and marries her in the knowledge that she carries another man’s child. But the birth of her twins comes with complications, and as the girls get older, things start to fall apart. Will their family ever be able to rebuild their relationships? And will Alice ever be able to stop looking back at what might have been?

An anthology of poems which explore poetry as storytelling, and the power of words to transmit meaning across millennia, transcending cultures and identities. This vibrant collection takes the reader on a journey from ancient poetic texts, through modernity, to an exploration of the new digital age. It explores themes of sexuality, objectification, loss, technology, religion, authoritarianism, censorship and language change. The breadth of this collection, celebrating diversity of poetic form, offers something for all levels of readers.

An extraordinary career journey which took Gerald Corbett from Dixons to the MCC via Railtrack. In the 1980s and 90s Gerald Corbett was one of Britain`s most experienced Finance Directors. In 1997 he took on the challenge of becoming CEO of Railtrack, the new company at the heart of the conservative government`s final and most controversial privatisation: British Rail. Fragmented into nearly a hundred different companies and suffering from years of under investment, the privatisation was catastrophically flawed and in 1999 and 2000 two fatal train crashes at Ladbroke Grove and Hatfield shocked the country. For the first time, Gerald describes what it was like to be at the centre of such traumatic and tragic events, and he charts the painful public and personal fall-out that ensued. In this gripping memoir we follow Gerald`s recovery from the Railtrack years and witness his skill with consumer facing companies, enabling young start-ups in the new digital age to become multi million global successes. The last big challenge of Gerald Corbett’s career was the post of Chairman of the MCC. He gives a frank and full account of what it was like to be in the eye of a cricketing storm as he united the club around a new plan and rebuilt three of the stands at Lords while also grappling with the covid pandemic. From the old school world of the City in the nineteen-eighties, to the very different world of the business world today, this is a compelling account of commerce in all its manifestations.

Exploring the past helps us understand the present and suggests where we might go in the future. It lets us appreciate daily life in other centuries and how decisions made long ago has built and shaped what we often see around us to-day — ancient patterns affect modern lives. Wellington, Birley and the Pyons is based on wide reading, a detailed study of the parish registers — some of them dating from 1538 — and comparing them with more modern census returns. It is written in non-technical language and organized to make the topics obvious and the themes easy to follow. Numerous photographs and illustrations bring the sections to life, and there are some surprises hidden in the text. The four parishes have always been geographically next to each other but how their communities related to one another is not always what we might expect. Herefordshire has not been at the centre of great national events, but the details of its history have something to contribute to the bigger picture of England and Wales. This book will be of interest to anyone who lives locally and also to people who may want to do some digging in their own area.