April 2021 - Celebrating our Alumni authors

Take a look at the latest books available from our alumni authors:

Henry Austwick (History, 2011) has recently published his first non-fiction book: Retrospect: Aldershot to Damascus, a WW1 Story.

The book is based on a first-hand handwritten retrospective journal account of WW1 written by Henry's Great Grandfather - Brigadier G.E. Badock which Henry discovered and combined with other unseen material to take the reader from the training camps at Aldershot to the landings at Gallipoli, then on to Egypt and finally to the gates of Jerusalem

This book is available to buy online.

Morwenna Blackwood (MA Creative Writing, 2016) has recently published a new psychological thriller, Glasshouse.

Psychiatrists, Drs Whittle and Grosvenor, have dedicated their lives to helping their patients, but their approach, and the complications it reveals, lead them into relationships that harm not only themselves. As their lives entangle, both men find that doing no harm is not as cut-and-dried as they perceived. Can the patients in their care really trust them? Or are more sinister motives at work? Delve into the dark world of psychiatric institutions where doctors and residents play a dangerous game where no one is infallible!

This book is available to buy online.

Mat Desforges (Geography and European Studies, 1994) will be soon be publishing his first novel Down...But not Out, which is due for release in July 2021.

Mat Desforges had, like many of us, suffered from low periods during his life. It wasnt until he had a particularly difficult episode that he realised that if he didnt seek to resolve this - and quickly - then things could get a lot worse. Down But Not Out is an insightful, uplifting and sometimes funny story of the episode, how Mat sought help, his recovery and how he discovered the various reasons for his low periods; reasons which he believes lead to many people feeling like he did. Importantly, it also takes us through the sustainable solutions he found to help him live a generally happier life. Mat has worked abroad and travelled extensively. 

Josephine Greenland (English, 2017) has recently published her debut novel Embers - a crime/mystery novel set in Sweden.

Two siblings, one crime. One long-buried secret. 17-year-old Ellen never wanted a holiday. What is there to do in a mining town in the northernmost corner of the country, with no one but her brother Simon – a boy with Asperger’s and obsessed with detective stories – for company? Nothing, until they stumble upon a horrifying crime scene that brings them into a generations-long conflict between the townspeople and the native Sami. When the police dismiss Simon’s findings, he decides to track down the perpetrator himself. Ellen reluctantly helps, drawn in by a link between the crime and the siblings’ own past. What started off as a tedious holiday soon escalates into a dangerous journey through hatred, lies and self-discovery that makes Ellen question not only the relationship to her parents, but also her own identity.

This book is available to buy online.

James Hickman (MSc Sport & Health Sciences, 2015) recently published Eat Move Perform: Volume 1 - Nutrition & Supplements.

Eat Move Perform is an eye-catching, easy-to-read, and detailed book that was written to be understood and enjoyed. No endless blocks of text that are dull and un-engaging. No overly scientific explanations that leave you more confused than when you started. Just high-quality information delivered in a way that anyone can follow and apply to themselves, friends, and family.

This book is available to buy online.

Richard Lyntton (German and Russian, 1989) has recently published North Korea Deception - Book 1 in The Deception Series based on real-life events from his past as a language student, military captain, journalist and actor. 

When ambitious British journalist Jack Steele travels to the Russian Far East to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two UN officials, he becomes embroiled in a secret, international military and political conspiracy to destroy a North Korean nuclear reactor along with several thousand innocent North Korean religious prisoners. In this espionage action thriller, Steele’s encounters with blackmail, suicide bombers, double agents, unwelcome romance, rogue military forces, and a full-on tank assault will excite fans of the British and American spy genre as he incurs the wrath of British, US, and North Korean authorities and a Russian organized-crime boss, all of whom want him dead.

As if that wasn’t enough, Steele alone holds the key to defeating the twisted and ruthless external reality of international politics, diplomacy, and unexpected evil in the Tumen triangle of Russia, North Korea, and China. From London to Moscow to Vladivostok and into the secret world of Pyong Yang, Steele must continually choose: fight, flight, report … or die.

This book is available to buy online.

Dr Gaye Manwaring MBE (Zoology, 1966) has recently published Waiting in the Wings which based on her father's wartime letters present the remarkable story of her parents' extraordinary romance, set against the backdrop of an era-defining global conflict.

The Second World War left no corner of Europe unaffected, and was to touch lives in every country. Young British librarian Len Manwaring was no exception; answering his country's call to arms, he would soon discover a life turned upside down when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force and saw a tour of duty which involved time serving in North America and South Africa as well as closer to home in a United Kingdom that was fighting the constant threat of invasion. Yet just as difficult for Len was the prospect of leaving behind Joan, the girl he loved, with whom he would correspond throughout the entirety of the war.

This book is available to buy online. 

Josh Oldridge (Combined Honours Maths and English, 2019 - Penryn Campus) has recently published Love in a Lost Year - a novel of hope in the face of loneliness, set during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown.

This book is available to buy online.

Kay Powell (Maiden name - Monro) (Sociology, 1971) has recently published her first novel Then a Wind Blew.

'Then a Wind Blew' is set in the final months of the war in Rhodesia, before it became Zimbabwe, and the story unfolds through the voices of three women. These women have nothing in common, but the events of war conspire to draw them into each other’s lives in a way that none of them could have imagined. This absorbing and sensitive novel develops and intertwines their stories, showing us the ugliness of war for women caught up in it and reminding us that, in the end, we all depend on each other.

This book is available to buy online.

Rachel Thompson (English and French, 2011) has a new book coming out on 26 August 2021 called Rough

'Rough' is a revolutionary non-fiction work exploring the narratives of sexual violence that we don't talk about. Through powerful testimony from 50 women and non-binary people, this book shines a light on the sexual violence that takes place in our bedrooms and beyond, sometimes at the hands of people we know, trust, or even love. The book explores the ways in which systems of oppression manifest in our sexual culture and is an urgent, timely call for change to the systems that oppress us all.

The book is available to pre-order.

DB Carter (Computer Science, 1991) has also had several books published during lockdown and you can find out more on his website.