Uphill All The Way [Kindle Edition]

"A strongly written story that many women will relate to." -- Katie Fforde"

When 51 year old Judith lost Giorgio, she lost her life in Malta - joy, love, her income, her own space, and her circle of friends. She even lost the view from her sun-warmed balcony of the sparkling blue waters of Sliema Creek. And, she discovered, she'd lost most of her money, too. What she gained, back in England, was a bed in her sister's spare room in chilly Northamptonshire where she'd been brought up, and a whole host of difficulties and family problems. But a road that's uphill all the way can bring exhilarating views. It can be fulfilling, too - when you find someone who wants to travel it with you.

I loved writing this book.

I'm a 'Malta-phile' - there must be a more elegant term for it, but I mean that I'm mad about Malta - and if I can't be there, the next best thing is to put my characters there. Although 60% of the book is set in the UK the book begins and ends in Malta, and the story turns on Giorgio, Judith's Maltese lover. Although poor Giorgio leaves the stage quite early on.

It was an absolute pleasure to create Judith, a mature character who loves Malta as I do, somebody who'd cope with loss and beginning again in her own individual style.

'A strongly written story that many women will relate to.'
Katie Fforde

UPHILL ALL THE WAY
When 51 year old Judith lost Giorgio, she lost her life in Malta - joy, love, her income, her own space, and her circle of friends. She even lost the view from her sun-warmed balcony of the sparkling blue waters of Sliema Creek. And, she discovered, she'd lost most of her money, too.

What she gained, back in England, was a bed in her sister's spare room in chilly Northamptonshire where she'd been brought up, and a whole host of difficulties and family problems.

But a road that's uphill all the way can bring exhilarating views. It can be fulfilling, too, and a lot easier when you find someone who wants to travel it with you...

Sue Moorcroft is an accomplished short story writer. Her stories are featured regularly in The People's Friend and other national publications.

He drove her home in the early hours, the stars bright against a black sky. Parking outside her flat beside the slack night time sea, he cradled her face gently and kissed her, a deep, carnal kiss, a kiss of clear intent, a kiss that made her muscles melt. 'Today we've made a good beginning. It's a big thing we begin.'
A sudden bleak regret encompassed her heart. It was all very well to take pleasure from a single day to be enjoyed and allowed to sink into the past.
It had been so innocent.
Even if the air crackled. Even if his eyes burnt with hunger.
It could be glossed over. And one single kiss.
But now his words were forcing her to face facts, and she responded with a deliberate misconstruction. 'You're right, it would be big, if we allowed it. But, although you say you've been separated for years, you take me to places far away from home.'
He grew still. 'I do not hide you.'
'I think you do. I think your wife lives in Sliema.'
He stared at her for several long moments. 'I apologise,' he said, at last. 'Yes, is true, a little. Johanna and me have been separate for fourteen years, but I do not make people talk of her by making a parade of my feeling for you. Why give her that pain? We will be always apart, but still we consider for each other, and for our daughters. They are good daughters and Johanna is a good mother. Also, my parents, they are unhappy their son cannot have a good marriage, and I try not to make them more unhappy. They are my parents. My Uncle Saviour and Aunt Cass, my cousins and their children, we all live in this big village, my parents would hurt to feel the family embarrassed by me. You live in Sliema, you know Sliema. People know other people.'
'Difficult,' she acknowledged, sighing. 'I understand.' But that didn't make it any easier. The street lights and the moonlight glittered together in the ripples of Sliema Creek and flecked Giorgio's eyes. 'Perhaps it's impossible. I'm not sure I'm the right woman to be tidied away, a secret from your family.' And she kissed his cheek, a fleeting farewell, hurrying from the car and safely through the entry door to the flats where he couldn't follow.