SYNOPSIS ‘THE SMILE’
Gianni stood in his place, on his island, his very own small piece of Italy and, as the sun rose crimson in the sky above the sea; his view. He watched this unstoppable miracle, as the path of light crept steadily towards him across the dark inky water, warming and colouring everything. The night shadows faded and a new day dawned. Then he considered his latest young guest newly arrived from London, with very little luggage and a lost smile. All was not well in her world: she was clothed in mystery, what could have made such a beautiful face so sad?
Alicia Spence, confused and miserable, comes to the island to recover from shattering events at home. Two women are thrown together through force of circumstances far beyond their control. With courage and determination they set forth to find out the truth and the whereabouts of the two men in their lives, suddenly disappeared, without trace, into thin air. An unlikely boating accident in the South of France. A macabre funeral in Scotland. Unexpected and erotic happenings in Venice on the night of ‘La Sensa’, the celebration of that city’s marriage to the sea and a final, dramatic, scene on the island of Torcello, played out under the hot Italian sun. But the story comes full circle and ends where it began: in Gianni’s place, on his island and, with the moon shimmering down on the Adriatic … on his view
SYNOPSIS ‘UNDER THE OLIVES’
Under The Olives is a present day story set on a fictional island in the Ionian Sea off Greece. Everything of importance happens in the strange mesmeric atmosphere amongst the olive trees. Few people ever take the time to really look within these ancient plantations, for the groves themselves are not advertised. The local people are busy existing and going about their daily routine. They have lived alongside the olives far too long to see them as anything more than a large part of their regular income. Visitors flash by without even a glance at the bewitching, eerie, light filtering through from under the low spread trees. They are in too much of a hurry to move on to the next meal or place of interest to tarry and explore. From the outside they are totally unaware of the mysterious allure of the huge groves, where there is a whole, other, hidden world to be found just waiting to divulge its secrets. For those curious enough to venture forth, on first entering, there is a strange ambience; just the smell, the light and the silence, albeit an overload of those three senses. At the beginning that is. Then suddenly there is sound, the continuation of interrupted birdsong, the snap of a twig and motion, movement in the distance, an animal perhaps? But if you stay awhile and persevere, if you decide to linger, look and listen, if your mind is open and fertile, you might just experience something else. Something quite different from anything else previously felt or observed and it could just change your life for ever …
Emma Brook, vulnerable and fragile, leaves a bad situation behind in England to explore the possibilities of a painting holiday in Greece for her ‘Island Hops’ travel Agency. Underneath the olives Emma does indeed discover a whole secret world, just as the man on the plane implied. Who was the shy goatherd who never came out into the light? Why was he hiding? Who was the beautiful reclusive woman? And who were the mysterious little gypsies playing amongst the trees? At the Hotel Stavros Emma meets an intriguing mix of diverse, irrevocably linked, characters and has both welcome and unwelcome visitors of her own. In the hypnotic atmosphere of the olive grove she encounters tenderness, tragedy and drama beyond belief. She finds the answer to a gripping riddle from the past and a certain magic for herself never before experienced.
SYNOPSIS ‘ THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR’
An idyllic winter holiday in a lovely hotel in the Swiss Alps becomes a nightmare. Early one morning a young woman finds suspicious and gruesome evidence in an otherwise beautiful winter wonderland.
Unwelcome strangers, ‘grey men’ of questionable intent, infiltrate the area and an atmosphere of veiled threat engulfs the village in the valley. As the heavy snow clothes the mountains in thick layers of silent white, it both hides and protects those that wish to take advantage of its camouflage.
A group of friends unwittingly becomes involved in unexpected events, when one of their party fails to finish a train journey and has to pit her wits against much more than the prevailing harsh weather.
Friendship and love blossom as six people take part in an adventure which demands enigmatic skills, courage, determination and for some endurance beyond all imagining.
In the cold glorious surroundings of a land where few are brave enough to dare venture ‘off piste’, skiing becomes secondary to that most basic of instincts – survival.