Showing results by author "Anthony McDonald" in All Categories

When the world went into lockdown in early 2020 novelist Anthony McDonald found himself separated from his Spanish partner by 2,000 miles of sea. This is the story, told in real time, of how he made his way to Tenerife on the day lockdown began there, and of the months that followed. A highly personal view of the Canary Islands, including accounts of time spent on other islands of this beautiful archipelago.

A glimpse of eight-year-old Ivor in a pretty market town inspires young artist Gemma Palmer to write and illustrate a children’s book. Gemma next meets Ivor when she is 29 and he 16. They become lovers, to the consternation of Gemma’s friends…for the real Ivor is quite different from the sunny character she turned him into in her much-loved books. Lurking in the secret places of his heart are impulses that are dangerous and malign. It can only be a matter of time before they are released, ready to strike. But when? Where? At whom?

Two young men meet on board the Orient Express in the freezing February of 1929. An unanticipated closeness develops between Nedim and Braslav as a collision with a snowdrift in Croatia leaves all on board facing cold, hunger and danger. As the bond between them is tested by events, they discover that they share a difficult secret… The tale of a surprising love that blossoms in unexpected places, against the backdrop of the glamorous Express’s odyssey through inter-War Europe, Romance on the Orient Express is a roller-coaster journey of intrigue, passion and adventure.

Five friends who first met in Seville when in their twenties are reunited thirty years later in the same city to honor the memory of the sixth member of their set, who has died in the aftermath of a plane crash. But it’s not the arrival in life-affirming Seville that is the main thing - it’s the journey of life that brings them back there. Woodcock Flight deals with mid-life loss - be it of a partner, a job, a career or religious faith - in a spirit of humor, fortitude and optimism: It's an up-beat book.

A quickie on Hampstead Heath. An invitation to play chamber music in the Dordogne. These two pole-star events will between them set the course of young theatre manager Robbie’s future life. More than one grand passion lies in store for him during his next twenty-five years. Chris, Jeremy and Luke will all spend time with him in the countryside and elegant houses of southern France. But with whom will he find himself lying out under the stars when the beautiful music stops? Contains several scenes of frankly described gay sex.