Family Tree: Stories of Love Beyond the Grave

A collection of stories which, though they involve loss within family and in relationships, nevertheless get inside the characters who are left behind and reveal, through fiction, how hurt and the longing for those lost can find resolution - where it may not be expected...

The author's degree in Psychology and Philosophy from the University College of North Wales, together with an interest in the lonely, the outsider and those who have to contend with dysfunctional relationships and loss have been much of the inspiration for this book.

The collection opens with "Family Tree" - Mr Glossop might be a widower, his neighbours said, but it was high time he poured acid on the base of the old yew tree, the roots of which stretched well into the grounds of the Municipal Cemetery . Was he really going to let his only son have the same degrading end as Mrs Glossop? Would gossip open out to truths best laid to rest?

"Reaching Out to Bernie" is widow Emily's dearest wish, but it is neither to seance nor spiritualism that she turns but rather an antique which has come into her possession and, for too long, has been collecting dust in her attic. Emily clung for life to the bric-a-brac which made a Mausoleum of her home; for sure, in everything Bernie had touched, he still lived and somehow she would - she would reach out to him.

In " A Farewell to Father" schizophrenic, Sam Baldock, is given a day out - his last - at the Beethoven Museum in Vienna where he believes he is called by the spirit of Beethoven. What will his little daughter, Joanne, witness at the top of those damp spiralling steps to the top rooms of the old Pasqualati House on the Molkerbastie, which once led to the rooms of the composer in 1810?

REVIEWS:

'Beautifully observed characters, atmospheric, intriguing.'

Barbara Erskine - best selling author of Lady of Hay.

'A real page turner, worthy of the early John Fowles.
Might easily become something of a cult.'

Reay Tannahill - historian, novelist and author of The Seventh Son.

'Raymond Nickford's worlds are so claustrophobic they are almost unbearable to read - yet read we must. The first paragraph of this novel says more than many say in five chapters.....after a few chapters I am engrossed.'

Jane Alexander - author of Samael.

'There is so much to like here - the characters, the settings, the story; emotional, intriguing and full of human interest. Another winning combination.'

Andrew Wright - author of Sanctuary's Loss.

"The author gives great voice to his characters, describing well their idiosyncrasies. A good story must either go deep or wide, and with his background in psychology he goes deep within the human condition."

Stephen Valentine - author of Nobody Rides for Free