A trilogy: The Solitary Kingfisher, the Rebels, Unfinished Business
GLASTON TOWN
A trilogy
by Céline La Frenière
"A trio of stories that stand out individually but, like the Glaston Town residents, are much stronger as a whole."
"Kirkus Review"
Initially, I wrote Glaston Town as a trilogy. Each story takes place in Glaston Town.
The first book, The Solitary Kingfisher, centres on Jack Corbyn, an odd boy who struggles to find his identity in the gritty London neighbourhood where he lives with his single mother.
Sam the road sweeper was the narrator. Using a male voice to tell the story was a liberating experience. My male alter ego observed people and events with a keen, but detached, eye.
I approached Gretchen Edgren, an editor I once worked with when I lived in Los Angeles. Gretchen had just retired as senior editor of an international magazine. She loved the novel and offered to edit it.
Meanwhile, I got on with the second novel, The Rebels.
This story centres on Jimmie Allenn, a youth who is brimful of anger and primed for a rebellion. His anger is aimed at pretty much everybody, but particularly at Leila Pain, a local prostitute who he blames in part for his misfortune.
Gretchen had started editing the second novel when she announced that Sam could not be the narrator because he could not possibly be a witness to all the intimate scenes in the book. Gretchen is a formidable woman, immensely practical and quite brilliant. Not someone whose advice one could easily dismiss. I reluctantly agreed to rewrite the books from a third person’s point of view.
The third book,Unfinished Business, deals with the aftermath of a brutal murder at Glaston Town and centres on a new character in the story. DC Sharon Tyllor is young, ambitious and capable. Nothing will stop her from getting to the truth.
Writing a typical murder mystery novel was not my main goal. What naturally evolved in the course of telling my stories is that a murder took place. At the time the said murder occurred, the reader already knew both the victim and the suspects intimately.
The ending elicited some discussion. I was in favour of letting the murderer get away with it, whilst Gretchen argued that the murderer should be caught. It gave me food for thought: A moral ending versus a clever ending.
Gretchen now had three books in her possession. She felt that they should be consolidated into one big book, hence the title Glaston Town.
Author's page:
https://www.amazon.com/author/glastontown.co.uk
You can order the book from Amazon (books/Kindle) the links are:
(in the UK)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1500599484
(in Japan)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/Glaston-Town-Celine-La-Freniere/dp/1500599484
(in Canada)
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1500599484
(in the US)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500599484
(in France)
(in Germany)
Http://www.amazon.de/dp/1500599484
Other sites:
https://www.createspace.com/4758458-- or --
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/celine-la-freniere/glaston-town/