Laïcité: Stories and Sketches of Secular France​ - £12.99
Ormskirk and the Origin of the World​ - £9.99
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Ormskirk and the Origin of the World
It has taken over forty years to unburden myself of this true life horror story: giving birth in an old workhouse hospital, in the year of the drought 1976. At school, we studied the reproductive system of a rabbit, so I had no idea of what was to come.
It was bonkers. It was ghastly - but thank God, it was also funny.
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Laïcité: Stories and Sketches of Secular France
On the other side of La Manche / The 'English' Channel, lies France. So near, yet so far... and always so very foreign. After centuries of religious conflict, France now leans on Laïcité, a multi-facetted, emotionally charged concept, difficult to translate, but which implies the complete separation of the church / religion and its secular state. For some, Laïcité is the new religion and guiding force, and it certainly holds one of the keys to understanding France today. A French friend went on holiday to Malta and came back fuming: "It's scandalous!" he said, "there are crosses and religious symbols hanging in all of their town halls. How can this be tolerated?" Coming at Laïcité from a tangent, this book hopes to entertain and enlighten, by considering some of the unexplored highways and byways of this surprising, secular state.
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Poetry