The effects of war are reflected in novel AND DO THE DEAD FEEL SPRING? by Christopher Billing

Jan. 18, 2013 - PRLog -- About the Book:  

At the beginning of the 20th Century, millions of people's lives were affected, to varying degrees, by the events of the First World War. My grandfather, Howard Hardy, was one of many. Returning from teacher training college in 1912, with a bright future ahead of him, nothing could have been further from his mind than the traumatic experiences meted out to him within a few short years. And Do the Dead Feel Spring is based on a selected amount of factual events from Howard's life that have been passed on to me by my mother, Howard's daughter, and mine is the story they appear in. A story that highlights the effects of war on those 'innocent and naive' men, women and children, and how, even years later, the struggle to reconcile the experiences, and in some way integrate them into a 'normal life', continues - even to, in Howard's case, a premature and unnatural death.

About the Author:  

Plymouth-born Christopher Billing, retired counsellor and therapist, now living in Tavistock, Devon, is Howard's maternal grandson. His curiosity about his grandfather's life has been, over the years, fuelled by a general lack of information. It was due to the events surrounding Howard's death that the whole episode was swept under the carpet, to the extent that not even Chris's mother knew much about her father’s life: She retains some happy memories, a few items of his woodwork, his confusing departure from her 9 year old life, and a small collection of photographs.

Chris has written in many different forms throughout his life, including poetry, travel writing, journalism and now, his first novel. His work with the victims of trauma, in institutions in the UK and USA, has provided valuable insights into the human condition contained in his novel, which was awarded the New Generation Traditional Publishing Prize.

Excerpt from the book:

“When the war came he knew he’d have to carry a gun and he remembered how alien it felt to have this cold object of death, primed and ready, in a holster at his side. He had been trained with both rifle and pistol, but as an officer he only had to carry the pistol. During those weeks of training he had carried the burden of his conscience. He wasn’t cut out for all this, but what could he do? Wasn’t he about to fight a just war for the good of mankind and remove the threat of an aggressive Germany and Austria?

Britain declared war on August 4th, 1914. He’d watched the situation grow steadily out of control during the previous weeks. At first he believed the fire could be easily doused by the most basic use of diplomacy. But as the days passed he grew in horror as he witnessed a world that wasn’t interested in discussion or compromise. Rather it was turning out to be some kind of crazy free for all, with the winner taking all. By the end of July, 1914, entente was a forgotten word and about three quarters of the civilised world was preparing to wage war for reasons that no-one appeared particularly sure of.  But it was too late to back down now. One couldn’t lose face this late in the day.”

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This book can be ordered from Amazon.co.uk at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/And-Do-Dead-Feel-Spring/dp/1909395994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358214711&sr=8-1

and from Barnes & Noble at:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-do-the-dead-feel-spring-christopher-billing/1114086389?ean=9781909395992

Contact Details:

Publisher:  New Generation Publishing

Contact:  Daniel Cooke

E-mail:  daniel@newgeneration-publishing.com

Tel.:   01933 665 340