In late 19th century Liverpool, the hills of Everton look down on the River Mersey and the thriving port that brings so much wealth to the city. But the confusion of black roofed tenements, courts and slums that stretch as far as the eye can see reveal that amongst the gilded prosperity there lies a neglect of any pursuit beyond the merest means of existence. Eight-year-old Jobe, born on the sloping hills is oblivious to the struggle of life in the slums where, Kitty, his Catholic mother was born or the opulence of the rolling pastures of the Wirral where his Protestant father, Albert, grew up. His parents, ostracised from their respective families because of their sectarian splitting love, live only for each other and their son. It is not until an unforeseen circumstance imposes the disease of desperation and deprivation onto their lives that they become aware of the poverty, industrial unrest and sectarian storms that are blowing through the city.
About the Author: I was Born in Liverpool in 1976. The year recently voted Britain's happiest, an indicator of things to come, I've got an uncanny skill of arriving at the party just as everyone else is getting their coats! I've loved books and reading them for as long as I can remember. As was the way back then I was always staying out in relatives houses whether it be my nans, aunties or uncles. None of them were big readers so after reading my nans dog-eared stack of Mills and Boons for the tenth time I decided to try and write a story of my own. That path, following a few detours, finally led me to Ruskin College, Oxford where I studied Creative Writing. Through no fault of the tutors, one being the much missed Alistair Wisker, a man who found time to encourage those who had not previously received encouragement, writing became like mathematics to me, full of rules and formulae. That and the glorious by-products of student life led me to forgo my studies altogether and following stints working on the railways and in factories, in schools and more recently children's homes I've decided to revisit my love of writing. With the support of my wife, Natalie and my three kids, Joseph, John and Evie I've finally managed to turn out my first novel. Hopefully it'll be the first of many and help to keep me off the tracks and out of the classroom.