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NEW BOOK:- ‘TALES TO TELL’ ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES.

Available from Amazon, W.H.Smith’s, Waterstone and You Write On. PRICE £7.99

Available Now:- 'The Awakening'

from Amazon, W.H.Smith’s, Waterstones, You Write On. PRICE £7.99 or E.book from Lulu PRICE £4.99

‘The Awakening’ is based on facts and personal experiences with a personal history involving authentic observations. The novel is an episodic series of vignettes of actual life punctuated by seasonal festivals, and celebrations in the country of Sri Lanka. The novel uses many different strands of reality to weave texture, adventure, humour and philosophy into the story…Excerpt.

“Bid me farewell my island paradise.” says Marian as she is forced to leave her beloved country to settle in the UK. ‘The Awakening’ is a tale of tragedy, love, adventure and destiny. It commences in 1953 and is based around Marian; a Sri Lankan girl aged 13 years, her trials and tribulations interwoven into the history of the country, its independence struggles and internal turmoil leading to the 2008 Sinhalese/Tamil war.

Her education is in a doctrinaire convent environment where she displays contempt of penal injustice at the hands of her religious superiors. Marian raped as a minor, explains through sexual awakenings how Eastern society deals with the victim and the perpetrator. Despite all odds she finds true love which is prematurely snatched from her grasp.

At the age of 16 years accompanied by her mother, broken hearted, grieving, deeply depressed and suicidal; she arrives in England to settle in the London suburbs to advance her education.

The novel then describes the grim experiences of arriving in post war Britain. This moving novel reflects and interprets the drama of her existence.

Reviews

This book is a touching account of life in Sri Lanka in the fifties, and it is written with poignancy and first-hand knowledge by the author, allowing the reader into deep inner emotions. I look forward to a sequel.

Joanne Leigh, author of 'Shadows of Conflict' and 'Seeds of Corruption', 'So Little Time' and more…

from Athena Press
This moving, and I am assuming fact based novel, is an ambitious encompassing sweep of the creative imagination. It is also a fine and sensitive examination of the ethnic and other conflicts that has riven that lovely island for so long. The whole book is in its way, a metaphor for the human condition and for the relation of the nations and the creativity of the subcontinent with persons and ideas from other cultures. It uses many different strands of reality to weave its texture, adventure, pathos, humour and philosophy.

It is written with a hand that is both sure and light. I particularly liked the writing style; right from the outset, the reader is immediately engaged, and made a part of the world of the writer. Dialogue, character and situation are all well and realistically handled. There is a sympathetic and engaging authorial voice that holds this varied patchwork together.

Mark Sykes, Editor- in- Chief, Athena Press.

“The Awakening” By Julie Allen
This book is very well written with simplicity and emotion based on the authors' life and experiences in Sri Lanka and UK . It is sad and humorous at times. It gives an account of a young girl growing up in Ceylon as it was known then, its people and troublesome history which led to her fleeing the country and having to adapt to a new life in a remote culture. It is very engaging from the start to the end and therefore difficult to leave once started reading.

Dr Rama Thapar, Retired General Practitioner

 

Available from LuLu.com

“The Awakening”
Once I started reading the “Awakening”, I found it difficult to put it down, this is praise indeed as it doesn’t happen with many books that I read. The book was well written and extremely interesting. Previously I had known little about Sri Lanka but after reading this book, I was rewarded by learning much about its religions and culture, which was new to me ,and gave me an insight to its people and soul. A most enjoyable book that I highly recommend.

Sam Needleman author "Highway to Homoeopathy"