Books

I had always intended writing 'Without Reproach' when I retired from Stoke-on-Trent cement manufacturer, Lafarge, but spent so much time working on my new home in Xaló (Jalón) Spain that I only recently finished editing it.

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write, but things always seemed to get in the way. It seems this is a problem shared by many authors.

I wrote a thriller called 'Bruker' many years ago, which was rejected without even seeing the light of a publisher's office.

Catch-22

I became frustrated with the catch-22-situation that exists within the publishing community - if you aren't published, you don't get looked at; if you don't get looked at, you don't get published.

I resolved this by clandestinely turning my hand to the world of magazines. Unknown to my work colleagues, I started to write short stories for women's magazines, and gradually began to make a mark.

My work became published in summer specials, recorded for 'Talking Newspapers', broadcast on the radio and published in international competition anthologies.

Début novel

My début novel, 'Without Reproach' sparks into life during the onset of autumn, at La Finca Piedra, a beautiful Spanish villa nestling under the sierras of the Costa Blanca.

Jenny Bucknall, slender and fiery, is in her twenties, a woman of ideals, intolerant of injustice, still looking to carve a place in the world.

Eduardo García is a successful businessman not well disposed towards fools. He is in his thirties and been selected as candidate for the next Parliamentary elections. Someone is sending Eduardo menacing letters, and he comes to believe it is Jenny.

Spanish artist

Jenny, raised in Stoke-on-Trent, inherits a share in La Finca Piedra from Spanish artist, Juan García… yet has never met him, has never heard of him and is not related to him.

Jenny’s psychological problems start when she sees the finca for the first time, but vaguely recognizes certain parts. Worse, she discovers a nude painting of her in the entrance hall.

Eduardo, twenty years younger than half-brother Juan, is also a beneficiary of the Will. Conflict erupts out of Eduardo’s single-minded resolve to preserve the finca for the García family, and Jenny’s equal determination not to give it up. She sees the finca as a chance of making something of her life.

Gold-digger

He sees her as a gold-digger. "You’re so pompous," yells Jenny "You think you're the only person that counts; but you're not. Everyone matters, not just you."

The contradiction of aggression and tranquillity, of angry and obsessive feelings amid the calm surrounds of the beautiful Sierras, heightens the mood of 'Without Reproach'.

Jenny finds herself struggling with Eduardo on several levels; her escalating attraction towards him, his promiscuous reputation, his belief that she may be involved with the threatening letters, and his absolute and unjustified dislike of her new friend, Miguel… and then she starts to get threatening letters too.

Jenny tries to unearth what connects her to the mysterious finca, but there are always dark secrets. Her growing belief is that there is a conspiracy against her. The enigma spirals as the tentative relationship with Eduardo develops.

Without Reproach is published by Libros International and can be ordered through all good bookshops, or on-line from www.amazon.co.uk or www.whsmith.co.uk.
For further information please visit Anthony’s website at www.anthonyjamesbarnett.co.uk

Anthony James Barnett