Old Girl Shireen Jilla (PHS 1977-1986) recently published her debut novel Exiled - a dark, dysfunctional psychodrama set in New York.
In love with her husband Jessie, an ambitious British diplomat, whose first posting brings them to New York, Anna begins the hectic, enjoyable life of a successful expat. But New York also brings her into contact with her husband's manipulative and competitive stepmother Nancy, a powerful American socialite and philanthropist. When a silly incident with her only son Josh involves the NY Police Department, Anna's seemingly perfect world begins to shatter. As Jessie's journey to rediscover his roots draws him closer to Nancy, terrible and strange things keep happening to Anna. And she begins to fear for her family's survival....
Sarah Rayner's (PHS 1970-1981) third novel One Moment, One Morning is a story about love and loss, secrets and lies, family and, above all, friendship.
Sometimes, one moment is all it takes to change a life forever. The Brighton to London line. The 07:44 train. Carriages packed with commuters. A woman occupies her time observing the people around her. Opposite, a girl puts on her make-up. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife's hand. Then, abruptly, everything changes. A man collapses, the train is stopped, an ambulance called. And for three passengers that particular morning, life will never be the same again.
Sarah won the Chester Memorial Prize for English during her last year at school and went on to read English at Leeds University. She is currently working on her fourth book The Two Week Wait, due out early 2012.
Meira Chand's (nee Gulati, PHS 1947-1959) latest novel A Different Sky is set in Singapore, where Meira now lives. The year is 1927 and three young people are starting to question whether this in-between island can ever truly be their home. Mei Lan comes from a famous Chinese dynasty but yearns to free herself from its stifling traditions; Howard seethes at the indignities heaped on his fellow Eurasians by the colonial British, whilst Raj, fresh off the boat from India, wants only to work hard and become a successful businessman. As the years pass, Singapore falls to the Japanese. Living through occupation, the three are thrown together in unexpected ways, and tested to breaking point. More information on Meira's novels can also be found on her website at www.meirachand.com
Soon after Putney Old Girl Julia Blackburn moved to a little house in the Ligurian mountains of northern Italy in 1999, a series of events began to bring her close to the old people of the village. They told her stories that made the landscape come alive, repopulating it with their vivid memories. Until recently, many of them had been mezzadri - people trapped in an archaic feudal system and owned by a local padrone who demanded his share of all they had. They were eager to talk about their old way of life which had changed with the eruption of the Second World War. Their village had been at the heart of the conflict between the fascists and the partisans, and they had learnt much about death and fear and hunger and how men and women could hide like foxes in the mountains. Thin Paths, the successor to Julia's 2008 memoir The Three of Us, is a profoundly moving book telling the story of her new life in Italy.
