Now that restrictions have been lifted I am enjoying a return to monthly lunches at Oxford’s Victoria Arms with RNA friends (Romantic Novelists Association). I was one of several members who had books published in lock down, including Katie Fforde and Elizabeth Harris. Oxford Writers Group are also back to regular meetings in members’ houses where we read our work and give constructive criticism as well as friendship.
Adrian and I met as volunteer teachers 52 years ago in Ghana. With our daughter, Alyrene, we have set up a charity: Community Action Ghana. Working with our Ghanaian friends, we provide or renovate libraries, community toilets and clean water for villages in the Volta Region where we worked all those years ago. Re-visiting the area in 2019 was one of the high points of my life. Lockdown restrictions have prevented us from returning but now Adrian and Alyrene are delighted to be going. They will be visiting villages where our friend, Clemence, has overseen the dedicated work of the men and women who live there. I am donating a percentage of the sales of my latest book, Coming of Age in Botswana, to enable more people to have access to good sanitation and well stocked libraries.
I am pleased to announce that Coming of Age in Botswana has now been published and is available at all bookshops and on Amazon.
A reviewer on Amazon says:
“This gives a good feel for what it was like for one family to meet people and animals spread out in the vast spaces of Botswana. It is set against the political and economic efforts of a newly independent country. Big issues illustrated by family stories.”