The year is 1898. In the small coal mining town of Birtley, in northeast England, a sixth child is born to Jonathon and Elizabeth Witherspoon. He will be the first and only boy in a family heretofore under the management of five sibling sisters. It is an auspicious start to a challenging youth, but his birth is much more than that. It is the beginning of Percy Stanley Witherspoon's eventful life of adventure, hardship, and pain. Much to the displeasure of Percy's closest sister, Sarah, he is forced into the coal mine at age twelve due to his father's illness. A close brush with death as a young WWI Commando, his migration to New York City following the war, his job as a bouncer at a Manhattan speak-easy and later chief of security at a swanky Park Avenue apartment complex, and his return to bomb-ravaged London during WWII provide a remarkable backdrop to discovery, romance, and tragedy. Along the way, Percy experiences heartbreaking personal loss. But he also savors the many delicacies that life places before him - - his family in Birtley, the Royal Marines, nurse Nellie Bowman, and a gifted daughter. He befriends a cherished Russian veteran and compatriot named Ivan, Donnie and Jacob Brewster from somewhere in Oklahoma, the tolerant crew of a fishing craft dubbed the "Golden Lily," and an oft-bewildered twelve-year-old apparition who brings him hope, strength, solace - - and even a discomfiting premonition. Through it all, Percy holds fast to his childhood dream of going to sea. When the opportunity finally presents itself, his near-death war experience comes full circle, bringing him to the realization that ironically, it may be his sister Sarah's life-long dream he'll ultimately fulfill instead of his own. A story that spans several decades and two World Wars, "Red Fox in the Heather" is a closely researched fictional novel of the period that will hold the reader captive from the opening paragraph to the closing line.
About the Author: Robert N. Story began writing fiction late in life, and since deciding to let his latent creativity and imagination loose, has produced four highly acclaimed novels. Story (yes, his real name) had authored many magazine articles, exclusively on matters of boating safety, and was asked by several of the editors of those magazines whether he had ever done a major project, such as a novel. The seed was planted, and grew into not one novel, but four. His latest, "Red Fox in the Heather," is a well-researched work based on the period beginning in the late 1800's and spanning several decades through two World Wars. It follows the exploits of a British lad who goes to work in the coal mines at age twelve, joins the Royal Marines in WWI and serves as a Commando. After the war, he moves to NYC, and returns to London during WWII. It's full of adventure, romance, heartbreak, and discovery. His first novel, "KABA 1330," was the fictional account of a young man in the late '50s who loved the radio business almost as much as he loved his childhood sweetheart. Story's second novel was much darker, exploiting the subject of solipsism, and one man's struggle to determine which side of a fine line his life was straddling - - the line between sanity and madness. "The Night Poet" was set during the period which saw the beginning of WWII. The story line of his third novel took place during the depression, the dustbowl, and as some in the cities called it at the time, the "dirty-thirties." In fact, the main character in his most recent novel, "Red Fox in the Heather," was a breakout character from his third novel, "Put a Nickel on the Drum." In "Red Fox," the character is woven into a brief revisiting of his role in "Nickel," challenging and yet superbly done, written so that those who had read "Nickel" would see the characterization emerge, but those who had not would find the character equally appealing. Robert is a native mid-westerner, with a style and writing "voice" that has been described as "smooth" and "gripping," a combination that will hold any reader captive from beginning to end.