Speaking Without Reproach?

The telephone jangled, the radio presenter was more jaunty than anyone deserved to be at that time in a morning.

"What's this book of yours about then?" He said, "Give me a quick run-down of WITHOUT REPROACH."

It was to be a telephone interview; on the spot, no warning, just a ringing of the bell and a hasty request.

I gabbled, I sweated, did a whole lot of benchmark lending, and was mightily glad when the beeper went and time was up. I had a long hard think afterwards I'll tell you. Just how am I supposed to describe it?

Trying to express what a novel is about, is an author's nightmare. We plan them; write them, give birth to them, yet most of us have difficulty describing them.

The problem is, books have sub-plots that interweave in a complex way. WITHOUT REPROACH is no exception. Trying to condense those ideas into a few words isn't easy.

I sat down, pen in hand

.... (well computer), determined not to be caught out again.... so what IS my book about? What IS it's genre? I thought I'd written a mystery, but what do I know? It's been well and truly hi-jacked by the media and slotted into the steamy bracket.

It can be described as a psychological mystery, yet I admit it's also a story of relationships ....

.... so maybe it's a steamy mystery.

The setting for WITHOUT REPROACH is La Finca Piedra, a beautiful Spanish riding school, on the Costa Blanca, Spain. Bequeathed to Jenny from Spanish artist, Juan García, she has no idea why she's a beneficiary.

Jenny has never been there, never met him, never heard of him, nor is related to him. The set-up makes her skin crawl when she discovers a painting of herself in the nude.

Eduardo, twenty years younger than half-brother Juan, is the main recipient of the Will. A feud erupts out of Eduardo's dogged resolve to keep the finca in the García family, and Jenny's decision not to give it up. The longer she is there the less she comprehends, and she begins to query her sanity...

There! I've done it. No more benchmark lending. I'm now ready for that interview .... shame it was weeks ago!

If you're familiar with my short stories, please don't expect it to be like them. WITHOUT REPROACH is rather dark, rather resentful and quite explicit - be warned!

For details, see http://www.anthonyjamesbarnett.co.uk/