Arms Around Frank Richardson

By Sylvia Colley

The impact of traumatic childhood experience reverberates into the grown-up world of Frank, Alice and Henry – children from three families suffering the fall-out from their early life. Frank, a working-class boy abused by his step-father, Alice, physically disabled and frustrated, Henry, the less clever son of wealthy ambitious parents. From a rundown estate in Eastleigh, a small town in Darlington and an affluent Cotswold home, each character grapples with the life fate has handed them. Until by chance they all come together in adulthood, the repercussions are explosive. Spanning 30 years the scope of this novel is ambitious and the writing beautifully honed. Character and sense of place are masterfully achieved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Muswell Press
• Release date: Jun 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781739966072

Sylvia Colley

Syllvia has published a book of poetry, Its Not What I Wanted Though and a novel, Lights on Dark Water. Her work has been read on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Pinner, Middlesex