Book description
With characters as diverse Christ, the red-breasted robin and kings
Arthur and Alfred, BLACK DIRT is the story of Frank - and the stories he
tells George and Margaret, his adult children. Frank, lying ill in bed,
finds his dying dreams haunted by figures from his childhood: his
parents, and his older sister Iris, whose existence - and terrible crime
- he has spent long years struggling to forget. Margaret gathers
together the random fragments of his recollections and tries to piece
together the past -- while George, who has never quite grown-up,
struggles to remember even recent events.
Revealing the dark and sinister shadows that can shape a child's
imagination, BLACK DIRT is a haunting tale of a father and his family,
told, like the layering of the earth, in different tones and textures.
An established author, Nell Leyshon is best known as a playwright, with
work broadcast on Radio 4. BLACK DIRT is her first novel. She lives in
Bournemouth and is currently completing a collection of short stories.
