2020 – The Year That Never Was
2020. What a year that wasn’t! Given that life hasn’t really been the same since 2020, this book has been put together to demonstrate both the effect the year has had on us and, to make people aware of the creativity displayed by many in such trying times.
Our lives may have been severely curtailed in certain respects, but one thing shone like a beacon in 2020 and that was the indomitable spirit humanity still retains; the ability to rise above the circumstances and still carry on, regardless.
Whilst we can safely say 2020 will be known forever as the year that never was, the contributors to this book prove we had what it took to still use our imagination, our talent, to paint, to write, take pictures and above all, to live.
Compiled by Jane Murray, 2020 The Year That Never Was is available on Amazon and in all good bookshops.
Caroline and Jack appear to be the perfect couple, content with quiet evenings at home and weekend walks in the countryside, enjoying their uneventful life. Every Thursday night, Jack normally returns home from his London job like clockwork - until one night, he doesn’t. His disappearance marks the start of Caroline’s discovery that Jack may not be who he seems. So, alongside her best friend Jude, they follow the clues he left behind, hoping they will lead to him. Their quest takes them to the Lake District, where they find themselves at the centre of a mystery greater than they had imagined. In trying to find Jack, they may have stepped into a danger from which they cannot escape . Finding Jack is Ella Blackthorn 's debut novel for Provoco; an 'unputdownable' murder mystery that will have you wanting to read more from this new, talented author!
Eleven years have passed since the fateful events of a Christmas party changed Anthony Crawford's young life forever. Having inherited his stepfather’s business empire, Anthony now is older, married to Katherine and the father of a daughter, Charlotte. His friendship with his childhood friend, Harry Hewson-Greaves, is as strong as ever, but a fight with a stranger changes Anthony's and Harry's trajectory forever. A string of events - Harry's father's death - seemingly suicide but raising the suspicions of the police; Anthony's mother's drinking; Katherine's decision to send Charlotte away to school, all conspire to create pressure and tension in Anthony's life, and he turns to Isobel Stark for solace. But when Isobel is threatened by newspaper journalist Lionel Luff, things take a more sinister turn and Anthony becomes embroiled in a series of events that make him question everything he holds dear and he begins to wonder where the truth ends and deception begins. When Harry disappears, accused of his father's murder, the reappearance of Heinrich Werner, the stranger with whom Anthony fought, threatens to blow apart Harry's life and the repercussions this has for Anthony and his future make him realise that you can never quite hide away from the secrets of scandals past. The second book in the Crawford Chronicles is the luscious and explosive continuation of J.F. Howard's debut novel, A Scandal of Secrets and sets the foundation for an enthralling saga taking us from pre-war England in the 1930's to the present day. A compulsive, page turning historical fiction murder mystery that will leave you wanting more!
Ewan Heighway is not happy - with anything, so it seems. When he's called back to work in the office as opposed to working from home, aka the pub, he's disappointed - until his nemesis Polly, who is also his boss, sacks him. A chance meeting with a colleague as he's clearing out his desk gives Ewan the opportunity to do something completely different - and which will involve him making regular trips up the M1 to his birthplace in Yorkshire. The new job - a driving job, means Ewan can rekindle some of the acquaintances of his past and meet the woman who's caring for his elderly mother. However, Ewan suspects Stella, the carer, of something more than simply looking after Louisa, his mother. He suspects her of trying to steal his birth right - namely, the bungalow where he grew up. Amidst his suspicions, the echoes of his youth, his long-suffering wife and not quite as long-suffering (because he's only just turned eighteen) son, Ewan becomes embroiled in a situation that fast becomes uncontrollable - just like Ewan's drinking habits and flatulent bottom, but against all odds, will Ewan rescue his inheritance and keep what's rightly his? More importantly, will Ewan actually learn something in the process? Mark Liam Piggott's first novel for Provoco is a jolly romp through the Jam Generation - the disillusioned, fifty something's convinced the grass is greener on the other side. If only they could find the other side! A hilarious coming of age novel with a difference!
Two hundred years after milkmaid Margaret Williams is murdered in the tiny village of St. Catwg, a new young couple move into Gellia Farm, where Margaret lived with her employers, the Richards family. They are disturbed by the headstone of a grave in the local churchyard, a stone which directly faces their home – the Murder Stone. Margaret’s grave. The couple know very little about what happened to the young woman, reputed throughout the legends surrounding the Murder Stone, to be pregnant. What happened to her and who was responsible remained a mystery. The previous owners of Gellia Farm, unfamiliar with the local legends that ran through the village, didn’t know of the rumours steeped in history, of romance, broken promises, lies and, of course, murder. But who was responsible for Margaret’s death, two centuries ago, and why do stories abound of her haunting the graveyard and the pathway where she was found, strangled? Is she seeking revenge or is she looking to tell her story? A story that echoes through the centuries from 1823 to the present day, where women’s safety is still not a priority. Margaret Williams became a victim of someone else’s vengeance for simply wanting a better life for herself – a life that ended in the mystery of her unresolved murder. How many more will meet the same fate? The Murder Stone is author Emma Hardy’s debut novel and cleverly weaves a true story – of Margaret William’s untimely death – with fiction, and her own interpretation of the events that took place in St. Catwg over two hundred years ago. Emma merges fact and fiction into an intriguing tale of a woman walking home and never arriving – a story we hear repeatedly in modern times. The book details the innocence of that last walk home, a last walk that so many other women have made in their own hometown, where they thought they were safe, where they thought their life was just ahead of them, yet never got to turn the key in the door.
Share on social media