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| Published by | Self Published (2017 - updated 21st July 2021) |
| Genre | Historical Fiction, short stories |
| Pages | 19 |
| ASIN | B09B2GVXFP |
Samantha Henthorn is a self-published author that I have come to enjoy. She has a quirky way of telling amusing stories, but has also gripped me with her psychological tale My Half-Sister's Half-Sister.
The Queen's Speech: (and other short stories from 1962) is a collection of short stories first published in 2017. It was updated in 2021, but the copy I read is the orignal, and so qualifies for the #BackListReader Challenge. |
The blurb:
Four short stories set in 1962
These four fun short stories precede Samantha Henthorn's novel '1962 (an uplifting tale of 1960s Lancashire).
Queen Elizabeth II's busy schedule is interrupted when PM Harold Macmillan asks her to give a speech.
Dolly and Randy think they see a UFO outside the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas.
Villagers in Cuba wake up to find their telephone lines cut, and a mysterious gang of farmers creep about at night.
Dinner ladies in the north of England have a new job to do in 1962.
My thoughts:
This collection of fictional short stories are set at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ms Henthorn has written four separate stories about events which might have taken place. The first story concerns the preparation for the Queen to address the nation on television. The second is about a nuclear missile test in Nevada. The third is about a village in Cuba waking up to find its lines of communication cut. The last one is about the setting out of a contingency plan in Bolton, in the event of a nuclear strike.What comes across in these stories, is that the world appeared to be going about its usual business. However, in the background, those in the know were preparing for the worst.
I found the writing style very much in the tone of Ms Henthorn's earlier works - definitely quirky - and yet slightly chilling. She is telling the reader that the world was on the brink of war again. And this war would have been swift, and unlike anything we had ever known previously.
I really enjoyed these thought-provoking short stories which has encouraged me to read up on the history of the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
| Author Bio – Samantha Henthorn |
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Photo by www.jdmoses.co.uk/ Join Samantha Henthorn's mailing list to catch up with all the gossip and freebies from Curmudgeon Avenue https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/d0q2h7 Samantha Henthorn was born in 1970something in Bury, England. She is a disabled indie author. When she was a child, she read Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. When she was a teenager she watched Victoria Wood and read Stephen King. Now she reads lots of things. Last Christmas, her husband bought her a DNA kit and Samantha found out that she is 96% Mancunian. Samantha is well suited to her chosen genre, comedy-drama set in Manchester. Readers have compared her books to Fawlty Towers, Sophie Kinsella and The Bridget Jones Series. Her books include the contemporary social satire series, Curmudgeon Avenue. The historical fiction '1962' (An Uplifting Tale of 1960s Lancashire), the short story collection 'Quirky Tales to Make Your Day' and the novella 'Piccalilly'. She has one dog, one gorgeous grown-up daughter and one husband. When not reading or writing, she is listening to heavy metal (particularly the grunge years of the early ’90s). Samantha would be thrilled to bits if someone read - or listened to her books. Samantha had a twenty-year nursing career in the NHS, working both in hospital and community settings. After a diagnosis of MS in 2005, she eventually accepted early retirement in 2014. Looking for a career where she can work for herself within a paced routine, Samantha remembered her love of reading and drew on her observation skills and imagination to start writing. Samantha often feels as though she is living in a sit-com and this is reflected in her style. Samantha looks after her condition by attending physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, sleeping whenever and wherever possible, wearing sunglasses indoors, avoiding emotional vampires and enjoying life as much as she physically can. |
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| Web site | samanthahenthornfindstherightwords.WordPress.com |
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| Goodreads | Goodreads Author Samantha_Henthorn |
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