Love means giving the greater part of yourself to another person.

For Charlie, losing that love meant a part of him was lost forever.

This new edition of Autumn Daffodils is the ultimate feel-good novel with a sensational ending. It will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

Charles (Charlie) Bartlett is a highly successful house builder and developer. Despite his successful career, his marriage is bereft of happiness. There was one brief period in his life when Charlie touched heaven. The love he found in another woman’s arms offered him everything he had ever dreamed of. Time stood still because he wanted it to last the rest of his life.

It was not to be. Charlie’s sense of honour and duty compelled him to remain locked in his loveless marriage. For him, there was no going back; when he lost the love of his life, a part of him was lost forever. When, many years later, his wife dies, Charlie feels he has nothing left to live for. Having given up on life, he decided, albeit prematurely, to join a retirement community. When he moves into the ‘village’, he finds he is not alone in wanting to leave his past life behind, and a friendship quickly forms with four other like-minded individuals.

Unbeknown to each other, his newly formed group of friends each has a past they are eager to leave behind. So they settle into their reassuring version of polite society, each content to draw a veil over their past life. Their contentment might have endured had it not been for the arrival of an enigmatic gentleman named Stanley.

Little do they realise that Stanley, a rotund gentleman with a yellow waistcoat and rosy cheeks, is about to change their lives. One by one, each group member feels compelled to reveal their darkest secret until Stanley's attention is finally drawn to Charlie. The moment comes when, like the others, he must confront his past life. This is not the beginning of the end for Charlie; this is the dawn of a new life for them all.

UK Book Reviews:

Best read this year by a new author. Couldn't put it down. Laughed and cried all the way through. Can't wait to read the sequel "Joanna's Story". Richard Jewell

Five ordinary people with a more than ordinary past. Loved this book, had meant to keep it for a holiday read but once I started reading I couldn't put it down. Full of surprises and twists and a very enjoyable read. Now waiting for Joanna's Story to arrive! Jane Spring

Behind affable facades lie the real stories. The setting is unusual, a retirement village and a close-knit group of friends. But they've never spoken to each other about the big events of their lives. There's a new arrival in the village and he helps them open up. The Big Bang in the City, the Falklands War, the SAS in Uganda, the heady 60s drug culture, all feature and there's a passionate love affair. The author's style is open, uncomplicated. As he says in his intro, as he wrote he came to live inside each of his characters and that shows. They've done well in life, better than most of us, they've flown high. But it's credible. And just as you think the tale might be drawing to the kind of conclusion that you'd expect in a novel about our later days, there's a twist, a new avenue opens up, and this I understand, for I've only read one of the author's two novels, will open up next time around. Recommended. Zen stream

Looking forward to next book.Make sure you have plenty of time when you pick up this. Once in your hands you will not want to put it down. S Smith

Difficult to put down.Charlie's story was a great read. Not only entertaining but aroused real affection for some of the characters and frustration with others. I was very keen to get on to Joanna's story. Hazel