Struggling Free [Paperback]

First I must admit that my Mum wrote it. In my hardly impartial opinion it is a really good read with the Palestine thing as a poignant backdrop. Much the same way as Dickens is a really good read, often with social deprivation as a backdrop. Having said that, when I hear about Israel on the news now, it makes more sense because of the historic background in this book. --John Penfold,

Set in Palestine in 1938 during the years of the British Mandate, "Struggling Free" follows the conflicts and contradictions during uncertain times in this troubled country. When a series of events lead to the deaths of a Syrian property owner and a British police inspector, three women from different religious backgrounds watch as the events unfold. Patsy, a British girl living in Palestine, Dalia, a Jewish refugee, and Suzanna, a Christian Arab unite together through their trials of love, murder, and war as they each become embroiled in the proceedings leading to the deaths of loved ones.

Technically Struggling Free comes under the genre of historical fiction and is very much an adventure story. My grandfather considered the word 'fiction' to be a synonym for 'lie.', but, as every schoolchild knows, the best lies are based on truth For that reason I have housed some of my characters in the homes that I lived in as a child in Palestine. I have given some characters the jobs that my parents and other people I knew undertook. In my opinion a historical novelist has a greater need than other authors of fiction to get the historical and geographical environment right despite the main characters being purely fictional. The novel is not only adventure and history though. It shows three young women, one Arabic, one British and one Jewish, originally all with stereotyped views of cultures other than their own , maturing from naive and idealistic adolescence to responsible adulthood. In writing this book I have tried to cast light on the earlier stages of the struggle to gain control of the land that now comprises Israel and Palestine. I hope this novel makes the current situation more intelligible to the outsider, (and even perhaps to the younger insider!)