Author ready with second instalment
A Southwell author has completed the second book in his planned trilogy.
Mr David Hughes (50) of Landseer Road, writes under the pseudonym, Ambrose Conway.
Beyond The Reso is the follow-up to The Reso, A Sixties Childhood.
The first book was set in the 1960s on a notorious housing estate in Rhyl, Wales, that was known locally as the Reservation or Reso.
It followed the main character, David, through a series of adventures on the estate and his time at primary school.
Beyond The Reso covers David’s difficult teenage years and life at secondary school in the 1970s.
The third book, set in the 1980s, will see David complete a teacher training course at university and begin his teaching career.
Ambrose Conway was the name of one of Mr Hughes’ secondary school teachers.
Mr Hughes grew up on the Reservation. He said although the books were not an autobiographical account of his childhood he had drawn on the experiences of him and his friends.
Mr Hughes is a former school deputy head. He now works for Nottinghamshire education auth- ority in information technology support.
He said he noticed how boys’ reading habits changed when they reached secondary school and his books were aimed at that gap in the market.
“All the books out there seemed to be about middle class children and their experiences so I decided to write a book that would be an antidote to that,” he said.
The trilogy has a website connected with it displaying images of the Reservation and information about the characters and locations in the books.
“It is not true that teenage boys don’t read anything,” said Mr Hughes. “They just don’t tend to read fiction.
“I have combined the books with the website so they can supplement the book with another type of reading.
“The books deal with issues of citizenship and bullying and, although they are based in the 1960s and 1970s they follow issues that children still deal with now and information about that is also on the website.”
The website address is www.the-reso.co.uk
Beyond The Reso will be published at the end of October.
