Two lives. One marriage. One Hundred Years of History. A true story told in their own words.
On 1st September 1893 Will Powell, aged 26, boarded the Lutterworth. A three-masted sailing barque, bound for Wellington New Zealand. His log vividly captures that epic voyage. Forty-seven years later, in May 1940, Will and his beloved wife Annie are in the South of France. With the German army approaching Paris, and desperate refugees flooding towards the Atlantic sea ports, the Powells decide to return to England. Then tragedy strikes, and Kate must make the perilous journey alone. A journey that leads her to the High Court at the Old Bailey.
Will's diary was a journal written for his family, to tell them about his journey to New Zealand in 1893, and to reassure them that he had arrived safely. Consequently, it is a vivid and detailed contemporary account of his adventure that required very little intervention on the author's my. His only role was to annotate some of the references within the journal for a 21st-century readership.
Kate's diary was written in France forty-seven years later, in her sixty-second year. She recorded events in faint pencil as they unfolded, and later by recollection. Fifty years later, it was typed up by Barbara, one of her daughters. It appears to have been written both for herself, and for her children. What begins as a fond account of an idyllic summer in Provence becomes increasingly increasingly desperate when tragedy strikes just as the Germans advance and the escape routes begin to close. It is a story of one woman's amazing stoicism and resilience in the face of almost insurmountable odds.
Taken together these unique diaries provide a wonderful contemporary account of two lives coming together, building a business and a family in the turbulent years between the end of World War 1 and beginning of World War 2, when their marriage is suddenly torn apart, and one of them must flee alone as the enemy hordes advance.
It should appeal to anyone who loves maritime history, the 19th Century settlement of New Zealand, ancestry, the history of the 20th Century, the history of the Second World War and, above all, true stories of love, loss, and family.
Rogers, Bill: - "Bill Rogers has, to date, written twelve novels in the DCI Tom Caton Manchester Crime Thriller series. And four books in the National Crime Agency SI Joanne Stuart series. A Trace of Blood reached the semi-final of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, is set in Manchester New Hampshire, Kerry in Ireland, and Manchester England. In 2011 Bill received the ePublishing Consortium's Writer's Award for The Cleansing, which was also shortlisted for the LongBarn Books Debut Novel Award. All of his books have featured in the Amazon Kindle top Ten Bestsellers in the British Crime Fiction category. Backwash was a top fifty Bestseller in all categories. He has also written an anthology of short Crime Stories, An adventuer/coming of age novel for young adults and adults alike, a book of walks in Manchester based on his novels, and a historical biography based on two diaries, with all proceeds to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.For eighteen years he worked for the Manchester City Council Education Department Inspectorate. During that time he appeared for seven years with Tony Wilson on the ground breaking Granada/ITV Which Way programme. Shortly after the Commonwealth Games he retired as Principal Inspector and Head of the School Improvement Service, . He then worked for 4 days a week as a Lead Facilitator at the National College For School Leadership. On the fifth day, he began the research for his new career as a writer of crime fiction.Born in London, within the sound of Bow Bells, Bill has lived and worked for the past fifty years in Greater Manchester. He comes from four generations of Metropolitan Police Officers - his grandfather was a founder member and head of the Flying Squad - and also draws some of the inspiration for his novels from his work as Education Liaison Officer with the Greater Manchester Police Service."
