Friends and Enemies - Softcover

Woolley, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1438984839 ISBN 13: 9781438984834

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2010

Synopsis

A search for political and personal truth across three generations, a story of idealism, love, cruelty and revenge set in England and Germany. . . After a chance meeting in East Berlin filmmaker, Jon Cruft, finds more than he bargained for when he starts searching for the truth about his family's past amidst the political and personal conundrums of the Cold War and beyond. From seventies idealism, via eighties pragmatism to turn of the century terrorism, Jon chases truth in life, love, friendship and art only to discover the destructive circularity of human existence. The story follows Jon's encounters and discoveries in the divided Berlin of 1973 and 1987 and the re-united Berlin of 2003, as well as the incompatible and combustible love affairs of his mother as told in a Mills and Boon style manuscript, uncovered by Jon in an a touching case of Cold War cooperation. It is a novel about unsettling physical and psychological experiences that bring Jon, his mother, and the people they meet, pleasure, pain, insight and despair. A book about overturned assumptions, friendship found and enemies revealed. "A broad canvas covering seventy years of recent history that the author manages to fill with conviction and a strong feel for human emotion and the relentless sweep of history. "STEPHEN MASON "A heady mix of styles and stories that takes the reader from Communist East Berlin to Nazi Dresden via the claustrophobic and cruel corridors of a 1930's English Public School. Well-written, very readable and highly recommended. "ELISABETH KLEEBLATT

About this title

About the Author

Richard Woolley is a screenwriter, academic and former film director. In the eighties he wrote and directed a number of films for cinema and television. These included: Telling Tales (1980), Brothers and Sisters (1981) and Girl from the South (1988). He has written two other published novels, Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands and Friends and Enemies and has lived in Berlin, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and New Zealand as well as in his country of origin, England. He has one son, works as a university professor and is currently writing a new novel set in 2084.

Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1438984839
• ISBN 13: 9781438984834
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464