Lucky Jack by S. Bavey - #bookreview

 

My name is Henry John Rogers, but I'm known to most people as Jack.

I was born at the very end of the nineteenth century, on 21st March 1894, in a room above my father's boot repair shop, in Hammersmith, London.

Most of my nine siblings (I was the second eldest) were born in the same room. Of course, I had no idea then that my life would be full of adventure...

***

Meet Jack Rogers. Born in 1894, he once locked eyes with Queen Victoria and was one of the first travellers on London’s ‘Tube’. An early car owner, he had many escapades on his days out to Brighton, including a time when his brakes failed and he had to drive through central London without them!

His skills as an entertainer earned him popularity throughout his life, and kept him out of the deadly mines while a prisoner during the First World War. At the tender age of 103 Jack earned the title of ‘The World’s Oldest Columnist’ as he began dictating his life’s exploits to a reporter from the local newspaper.

***

This is the story of the author's grandfather, and what a lovely book it is. Ms. Bavey has every right to be as proud of her book as she clearly is of her remarkable grandfather.

Jack Rogers, lived to the grand age of 106 (1894-2000), making him one of the few people to have lived through three different centuries, whilst experiencing the reigns of six different monarchs. And what a remarkable life it was! He faced the ordeal of two world wars, being held in a prisoner of war camp, the establishment of the London Underground and saw the progression from horse drawn carriages to motor cars.

Jack's voice is very apparent throughout the narrative. He was clearly a man of good humour, and I could almost imagine a twinkle in his eye as he told his stories. He described himself in childhood as "a naughty scamp" and it was this boyish enthusiasm that propelled him through life. He faced many challenges throughout his years, but he accepted life with both fortitude and resolve.

This pleasing memoir was a delight to read and my life feels richer for knowing of this man. I could almost imagine him relating his stories to his granddaughter in her childhood, just as my own did, and I appreciated the nostalgia this created in me for bringing my own grandfather to mind who had a good few stories of his own to tell. 

The book has been well written in a first person narrative and thus feels like listening to Jack's stories at first hand. I think the author has done an excellent job of bringing Jack to an audience who would probably never have known of his existence had she not told his story. Bravo Ms. Bavey for this excellent memoir of a life well lived.

I highly recommend this book.

ISBN:  979 8766392583

Publisher:  Independently published

Formats:  e-book and paperback (currently available on KindleUnlimited )

About the Author:

Sue is an English mum of two, living in Massachusetts since 2003 with her husband, kids, a cat named Midnight, a bunny named Nutmeg, a leopard gecko named Ziggy Stardust, and occasional frogs and salamanders.

She loves alternative music, British alternative comedy and unusual art.

During the Covid lockdown she wrote her grandfather, Henry John Rogers’ biography, Lucky Jack (1894 – 2000) and it is now available for purchase on Amazon.

In 2022 she collected together all of her late father’s writings and selected what she considered to be the best ones for an anthology she has entitled Daydreams & Narcoleptic Nightmares which is now available for purchase on Amazon with 15% of all profit being donated to the UK charity Narcolepsy UK.

She has two stories (one is an extract from Lucky Jack) in an anthology which came out in December 2021 called 40 Life Changing Events 2022 Edition, edited by Robert Fear. She also contributed a chapter to the Travel Stories Collection Box Set (only available digitally).

In 2022 she also contributed stories to a memoir anthology: 50 Intriguing Personal Insights, 2023 Edition and a creative fiction anthology, 15 Fascinating Fictional Tales, both edited by Robert Fear.

She holds a BA (Hons) in ‘German Studies’ from Manchester University, UK and a MSc in ‘Communication in Computing with Italian’ from Middlesex University, UK.

Thereafter, she worked for many years in London, UK, in publishing, multimedia project management and website production. She currently does some freelance marketing work, in addition to website management, proofreading, writing, beta reading, and reviewing books for booknest.eu, Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team and her own blog, Sue's Musings. She likes a variety of genres, but prefers to support indie authors where possible.

More photos of Jack can be found on the author's website https://suelbavey.wordpress.com/lucky-jack-photo-gallery/

The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea - #BookReview

 

"Of all the ways to die, drowning must be the most peaceful. Water above, sounds cushioned, womb-dark. Drowning is a return to something before the knife-blade of living. It is the death we would choose, if the choice was ours to make...

Midnight. The sky is clear, star-stamped and silvered by the waxing gibbous moon. No planes have flown over the islands tonight; no bombs have fallen for over a year. The snub noses of anti-aircraft guns gleam, pointing skywards. The cliffs loom like paper cutouts, hulking shadows above the natural harbour of the bay. Everything is flattened by the darkness, as if the sea around Orkney is a stage set, waiting for an entrance."

Scotland, 1940.

On a remote island, a prisoner-of-war camp is raised to house 500 Italian soldiers sent to Orkney to wait out the war. Upon arrival, a freezing winter and a divided community greet them.

Where their neighbours see faceless enemies, orphaned sisters, Dorothy and Constance, see sick and wounded men unused to the icy cold, and volunteer to nurse them. But while Constance remains wary of the soldiers, Dot finds herself increasingly drawn to Cesare, a young man on the wrong side of the war, broken by the horrors of battle. 

Cesare and the other soldiers spend their days building a barricade between the islands. By night, they construct a reminder of their homeland - an exquisite Italian chapel, fashioned from Nissen huts and debris from the sea.

As tensions between the islanders and outsiders grow, the lives of these three people are set on a collision course. Each is forced to weigh duty against desire... until, one fateful evening, a choice must be made, one that will have devastating consequences.

***

Before I even began this book I was intrigued by the premise. Identical, flame haired, reclusive twins who live on a cursed island in the Orkney's was too good to resist reading.

There are many novels set during World War II but I feel that this book delivers something a little more substantial than the average. It is an enthralling story which captured the atmosphere of living on a small island alongside a prisoner of war camp whilst also weaving in local myths.

The perceived threat felt by the islanders seemed very real to the reader and the book captured the tension and fear of the island population extremely well.

However, amidst all this bad feeling runs a thread of love and hope as the twins, Dorothea and Constance, become nurses in the POW camp. Their reasons for doing so are individual and this willingness to place themselves inside the camp to aid the prisoners leads them to be further ostracised from the inhabitants of the islands.

As orphans, they only have one another and, as such, are extremely close. Ms Lea's depiction of her characters is excellent, all of whom are flawed in some way, giving them a realistic feel. Nobody was wholly good or completely bad and in doing this, the author was able to present them in a multi-layered and non-stereotypical fashion.

The descriptive sections are beautiful to read. The author has clearly chosen and placed each word carefully. The book is strong on plot whilst having a poetic feel to it.

Although all of the characters are fictional, the book is based around real events. There, indeed, was an Italian prisoner of war camp on the island of Lamb Holm in the Orkney Islands (Selkie Holm in the book.) The prisoners did build a chapel made out of Nissen huts and scraps and what they achieved was remarkable. I have included some photos at the bottom of this review.

I found the book heart-wrenching and inspiring in turn. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 0241 423301

Publisher: Michael Joseph

About the Author:

Caroline Lea grew up on the island of Jersey and gained a First from the University of Warwick. Her fiction and poetry have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. Her previous novel, The Glass Woman, a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials, was shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award.