Following the mysterious
disappearance of her husband, Dorothy Gibbons, a middle-aged ex librarian
affectionately known as Lady Pink Hat, trudged the lanes around Drumford,
homeless and directionless, with only her memories for company. Alone, she
rolled a dice, reflecting on her life, times both painful and pleasant.
When her husband vanished,
Dorothy didn't think that life could get any worse.
Jamal Hussain, a Syrian refugee
and asylum seeker, was fostered under the careful wing of Dorothy, until
leaving school and finding work. He and his brother settled in a nearby flat,
that is, until the misguided Ahmed Hussain also disappeared.
Dorothy, or Dot, stumbled upon
The Grange; an empty haunted farmhouse, where she squatted periodically.
Millie, an 18th century aspirant nun, who was swinging from the rafters as Dot
tried to sleep, was her only company. She tried to piece together the nun's
story, which changed the course of her life and, in her isolation, she began to
write ...
'Millie, an 18th Century
aspirant nun, ran away from The Grange ...
With three missing people, who
will discover what happened? Is Millie still haunting The Grange until her
story is told?
Will Dorothy's resilience win
through? Will she ever find peace and, more importantly, will she ever learn
the truth?
Following the success of 'MURDER, Now and Then', this new novel 'MISSING,
Past and Present', is a compelling and intriguing 'mystery inspired by
history.'
About the Author :
Diana Jackson's passion for social history is the bed-rock to all of her writing; historical fiction, mystery and memoir. It was delving into her family history which inspired Diana's first novel 'Riduna', set on the island of Alderney, and there is an element of realism in all of her work. She was influenced by the classics from Bronte to Thomas Hardy, and as an avid reader too, she has always felt compelled to write. A retired teacher from Bedfordshire, now living in Fife with her retired husband, Diana enjoys the life of an author, but she is also fully involved in community life in Kinghorn.
Review :
Review by David Ebsworth, author of historical fiction "The premise of Diana Jackson's novel is that life is mostly as random as the results of rolling dice. The challenges that life throws at us can be positive sixes, or disastrous ones and twos. So she weaves the stories of her main characters, Dot, Jamal and Angelina, around a whole batch of social issues that could similarly hit any of us by a simple twist of fate: homelessness; mental health; abandonment; and betrayal. Some great descriptive writing, but it's the redemptions in the novel that are striking, the bringing together of all those threads, from the past and from the present, from the characters' various stories, making us see that, even despite life's more disastrous dice throws, given the right support, another outcome might be possible, the missing may be found." Reviewed by Kmet of Kutela; "Diana Jackson's Missing: Past and Present spirited me away to a different world. The story began with the mysterious disappearance of Dorothy's husband Gerald leaving her both bewildered and destitute. I loved the emerging story of Jamaal and Ahmed which interweaved throughout the story and the links with another era as Dorothy tries desperately to lift herself from the devastating life in which she now found herself. Looking forward to Diana's next book."
