Books & Poetry

A MODERN MIRACLE

Lifelong Wrexham fan Andrew Foley was so inspired by the unlikely takeover of his beloved club by Hollywood A-listers, he based his latest novel on it

Wrexham AFC supporters have been living in a dream world since the non-league club was taken over by two Hollywood superstars. For Andrew Foley-Jones, Superfan Andrew the implausible acquisition of the fi fth-tier outfi t by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was so astonishing, he was inspired to write a novel about it.

It’s Almost Always Never Sunny This Side of Wrexham is the tale of a fan who wakes from a 10-year coma in 2030 to fi nd his beloved Red Dragons have two A-listers at the helm. He’s brought up to speed on what he’s missed – a pandemic, assassinations and much more – by psychologist Dr Paskin and a wall of TVs that play out the intervening decade.

Local legends

Featuring anecdotes and characters from Wrexham AFC’s rich history, the novel is sure to be a hit with football fans of all ages, including the legions who have joined their ranks since last autumn’s buyout.

Anglesey-based dad-oftwo Andrew, a solicitor and writer whose other titles include the popular Please Don’t Take Me Home: A Cat Called Robson-Kanu, hopes it will capture the spirit and excitement of the past year.

“The book is written in

the fi rst person and follows a central character who wakes up in a room with no memory of how he got there,” said Andrew, who was born in St Asaph and attended Prestatyn High School.

“The current position still feels too good to be true, after the challenges the club has faced o and on the pitch for years, so I’ve tried to include moments of comedy, albeit mostly quite dark, with the fundamental question being, where will all this end?” The book sees other big names making the switch to soccer – Donald Trump at Cowdenbeath, Madonna as the new CEO at Holyhead Hotspur.

“Where will all this end? Madonna as CEO at Holyhead Hotspur?

It could happen…

Andrew added: “You can’t help but glimpse into the future. Maybe some of the things I bring to life do happen? Joe Wicks as the next PM? Hugh Jackman taking over at Chester FC? Danny DeVito drinking pints at the Turf? No-one knows what’s around the corner, but we can all dream.” You can order It’s Almost Always Never Sunny This Side of Wrexham (Red Dog) on Amazon. Follow Andrew @afoleyjones and visit andrewfoleyjones.co.uk

LOCAL BOOKS

It’s Hard to Be Good by Charlie Seiga Now enjoying a peaceful existence in Colwyn Bay, author Charlie Seiga refl ects on his troubled childhood in Liverpool in the 1940s and ’50s. Times were hard, food was rationed and kids went hungry; some families had to beg, steal or borrow to survive. Charlie and his childhood gang were grafters, bunking o school and doing whatever it took to put food on the table.

Charlie set his sights higher. With his baby face and dressed as an o ce boy in blazer, shirt and tie, he was soon darting in and out of buildings in the city, making rich pickings as he raided their cash drawers and safes.

Branded a gangster for most of his life, Charlie never considered writing about how it all began, until he found himself drawn to pen long passages about his childhood and subsequent adult life in crime.

A brilliant combination of narrative writing, memoir and biography, this is a true story of a childhood delinquent and his young gang, growing up in war-torn Liverpool.

We Lost Democracy by James Jones James A Jones was also born in Liverpool and now lives with his family in Cheshire. Well travelled and technically minded, his decision to write fi ction was greeted with scepticism by his family, who at fi rst felt their opinion was justifi ed. Now, several years later, he feels he is making progress.

We Lost Democracy follows the life of fi ctional detective Tom Copeland and is set in the United States, where fi res have broken out at key locations across the country. He quickly discovers there could be as many as 2,000 incidents. The e ect on the economy is dramatic; it appears to be an act of terrorism, while Tom is cautious about making such a claim.

Public life is a ected as America’s largest companies are seen to be in trouble and in need of fi nancial support. Tom’s opinion is that the United States is at war – an economic war – and he predicts that it will take many years for the US to regain its former position in world a airs…

Calling local authors…

If you’re living in the Shire area or have written about a local person or place, we’d love to feature you on these pages. Email editorial@ shiremagazine.co.uk.

Seeing as it’s back to school time for so many, our friends at Linghams have suggested a couple of exciting titles to lure the kids back into reading after the long summer break

Maria’s Island by Victoria Hislop

This book is a retelling of the classic The Island, from the same author, this time from a child’s perspective. Maria is a young girl living in Greece when leprosy is spreading like wildfire. When the government orders for all children to be tested, her orders for all children to be tested, her best friend tests positive and is to be sent best friend tests positive and is to be sent to the island of Spinalonga to isolate. to the island of Spinalonga to isolate. The next day a white mark appears on her mother’s neck and the chaos begins.

The absorbing story of the Cretan village of Plaka and the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leper colony – is related by Maria Petrakis, one of the children in the original version of The Island. She tells us of the ancient and misunderstood disease of leprosy, exploring the themes of stigma, shame and the treatment of those who are different, which are as relevant for children as adults. Gill Smith’s rich, full-colour illustrations will transport the reader to the timeless and beautiful Greek landscape and Mediterranean seascape.

The Secret The Secret Detectives by Detectives Ella Risbridger Ella Risbridger

A gripping, A gripping, beautifully written beautifully written historical mystery, historical mystery, from an incredible from an incredible new voice in new voice in children’s fiction. children’s fiction. When Isobel When Isobel Petty is suddenly Petty is suddenly orphaned, she orphaned, she finds herself being finds herself being taken away from taken away from her home in India her home in India and sent to live with a distant uncle in and sent to live with a distant uncle in England. On board the SS Marianna, England. On board the SS she witnesses a shocking act – somebody she witnesses a shocking act – somebody being thrown overboard in the middle in the night. But when the ship’s captain insists that nobody is missing, Isobel and her two new reluctant friends must solve two mysteries – the identities of both the murderer and the victim – before they reach England and the culprit has the chance to escape.

An early autumn evening by Anne Douglas

I see an early autumn moon Silver streaks of moonray Su use down to the ground Leaves fall gently from boughs Onto the pathway From ancient coppices From the forest throng A crafty fox in disguise In the shadow Decides to pad by unknowingly Unwittingly Upon the leafy ground An owl lands on an oak tree His sound reverberates in the darkness As he calls out to his mate Too-wit too-wit-a-woo In the cold night air And now comes a rainshower Drops fall gently down Upon a silhouetted woodland I see an early autumn moon A moon that is wandering On an early autumn evening

Of all the trees (an excerpt) by Annette Edwards

The mighty Oaks stand proud As centuries of growth, allowed Born of windfall, long ago Upon ground, where acorns fall Safe from squirrels, searching all Under oaken leaves, they hide Beneath, other oaks that shroud In ancient woodlands, or aside Upon the ridge and furrow fi eld Ageing Oaks, their seeds do yield

She by Norman Marshall

She moves and dances with grace, This lady lightens the place. She sings with a nightingale’s voice And all around simply rejoice. Her eyes are of pure quartz, And always in our thoughts. Her cuisine is the fi nest fare, Like her personality, beyond compare. In her company one is a king, Her vocabulary has an eternal ring And in her arms all shine, She is the one: all divine. Thankful are all for knowing her For she is all: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Now this lady comes with a price: Extravagance is her only vice! And this I will gladly pay, If only she would come my way.

Frosty Cobwebs by Les Lacey

To all my garden spiders I o er “thank you”, for constructing features of exclusive precision.

Embraced with silent mist and morning dew their webs assume a sparkling transition, the products of vapour and frost that crystalise, a display, diaphanous, wispy, glistening, that spreads beauty, radiating from a unique enterprise, capturing nature’s sparkles on fl imsy threads.

All spiders’ birthright since divine creation, the fragile, microscopic strands, fi ne spun, will no more provide concealed accommodation for a patient, deadly highwayman.

’Til night frosts will again the camoufl age dismiss, sustenance demands a reconstruction, from scratch, complete, another edifi ce to o er creatures disguised self-destruction.

We want your poems!

Share your creativity – we print our favourite poems every issue. Send them to Poetry Page, Shire, PO Box 276, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 1FR or email editorial@shiremagazine.co.uk.