The Strange Year of E.G. Rawlings

It is January 2017. E.G. Rawlings, a noted foreign war correspondent forced into retirement after a serious injury in the field, arrives by boat at a vacant mooring on the Thames. To his surprise, he finds it is owned by an old friend from Afghanistan, Isobel Mallinson, the widow of a British diplomat. On learning that Rawlings is now writing an account of his war experiences, Isobel allows him to use her mooring for the year he needs to finish his memoir. A great friendship evolves, but is friendship all Isobel wants?

During the months that follow, Rawlings, suffering from PTSD and in terrible emotional and physical pain, finds solace in the peaceful life of the river and the community he finds there. Although a loner by nature, he becomes particularly close to Marnie, a middle-aged art teacher with a fragile heart who lives near him in the boathouse. He begins to tell Marnie his story, explaining the unexpected events that have resulted in what he calls ‘turning points’ in his life, taking him in surprising and new directions. Little does the jaded reporter realise that another turning point is just around the corner that will not only profoundly affect his life, but also the lives of all those around him.

About the author

Jane McCulloch is a writer, dramatist, lyricist and director of theatre and opera. After a long association with the famous London Old Vic Theatre, Jane started her own company in 1985, the English Chamber Theatre, where she wrote, devised and directed over thirty new works. Jane has worked with many of the great names in British Theatre, including Sir Derek Jacobi, Julian Glover, Timothy West and the late Fenella Fielding. As a writer she has worked in theatre, radio, television and the recording studio. In 2014, she gave up most of her theatre work in order to concentrate on her writing - and most especially, fiction books. Jane has four children and ten grandchildren and lives in Putney, London.