There has
been much talk about Shades of Appley Green in recent months and perhaps some
of you would like a simple reminder about my first two novels, also set in the
village of Appley Green. They are connected but each one stands alone. You could
read either one first.
Will uprooting herself from London to live in the
English countryside help Kay escape guilt-ridden memories of her husband’s
death? Far from finding a quiet life, she is caught up in an age-old village
conflict where passionate opinions on Romany Gypsy Travellers divide the local
people.
A young woman, Lena, enters her life,
unwittingly putting Kay’s plans on hold. Kay struggles to not only come to
terms with her emotional past but also to resolve Lena’s problems, those of the
village and the Gypsies. And another relationship blossoms that she would never
have dreamed of …
Two years have passed since Kay successfully
campaigned for the Appley Green Gypsy Site, and four years since her husband
was murdered. Life in the village was going so well, until the phone call and
letter. Then comes the disastrous site opening. Worst of all, Dunstan, whom she
realises is her best friend and ally, is giving her the cold shoulder for some
unknown reason.
Dunstan is taking an emotional trip down memory
lane, into childhood as a Gypsy on the road, and his eventual break from his
people. Why is he so angry with Kay that he keeps away from her? Chances of a
longed for reconciliation look slim …
The two books had many lovely reviews in addition
to those on the Amazon web site. I will give you just a couple, for now.
I spoke on BBC Radio Oxford – it was a programme
called The Write Lines hosted by broadcaster and writer, Sue Cook. She later
read my two Gypsy books.
“Few of us even
try to understand gypsies and their way of life. Our knee-jerk reaction usually
goes no further than ‘not in my backyard’, as I discovered first hand when a
family of gypsies arrived in a village near where I live last year. The
immediate reaction among the residents was a mixture of alarm and resentment.
In Miriam Wakerly’s Gypsies Stop tHere and
its sequel No Gypsies Served it’s
refreshing to see gypsies portrayed as individual people like the rest of us,
making their way in life the best way they can. Reading this compelling story
brings home the fact that it’s perfectly possible for gypsies to be accepted
successfully into our communities.
Wakerly’s books do a wonderful job in helping to
promote understanding where there is ignorance and tolerance where there is
bigotry. I recommend them heartily.”
Scarlett de Courcier found me in a Waterstones shop one day
and hhere’s what followed:
(Click here!)
Bohemiacademia
(Extract)
“Gypsies Stop tHere gripped me from the first page
and carried me all the way through to the end on a wave of ‘I don’t want to put
this down’. And then I picked up No Gypsies Served and had the same feeling all
the way through that one.”
Scarlett even
placed my two books as her 2nd best choice for 2010 and, boy, has
she read some books, and, oh yes, she can be very critical of books sometimes!
“Really, really important books. Really, really beautifully written. I
think they should be on every school’s curriculum.”
Maybe you would like to give Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served a try and, if you like them, add your
own comment on Amazon. That would be amazing and I will look out for what you
have to say!
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