Jack Melrose now on Amazon

Folks, I’m delighted to be able to tell you that Jack Melrose’s truly wonderful book is now available to buy on Amazon. You can get it from Amazon.co.au here:
Back tae Auld Claes an’ Porridge: Book 1: A New Start : Melrose, Jack: Amazon.com.au: Books
or here, if you’re in the States:
https://www.amazon.com/Back-tae-Auld-Claes-Porridge-ebook/dp/B0D9YH2633/
or here, if you’re in the UK:
Back tae Auld Claes an’ Porridge: Book 1: A New Start: Amazon.co.uk: Melrose, Jack: 9780473624644: Books
Jack is a skilled writer who excels at bringing to life whatever he describes, and I very much enjoyed working on both of his books. I’ll bring you news about the second in the series as soon as I can, but you can get your teeth into Back tae Auld Claes an’ Porridge: A New Start while you wait.
The following is Jack’s press release, which will clue you in to the book’s premise and get you in the mood for a really good read. Lel.
Picking up the pieces after World War II: New book chronicles three decades in the life of an Edinburgh working-class family
What was life like for working-class families in post-World War II Scotland? A new novel – Back tae Auld Claes an’ Porridge – provides one answer. Inspired by real life experiences, this fictionalised coming-of-age story by Scottish-born New Zealander Jack Melrose portrays ordinary folks’ lives and their attempts to get back to normal during those desperate times.
Melrose’s debut novel delivers a vivid account of life in dilapidated Edinburgh tenements most of which, nowadays, would be regarded as slums, lacking such modern conveniences as electricity, running hot water, or dedicated toilets.
This first of two volumes chronicles the life of the Swanston family in the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Each of the book’s nine chapters recounts episodes filled with interesting characters and places which come to shape the main character James as he grows from a naïve youngster to an adolescent discovering independence. There is Māori Miss Douglas, James’s infant teacher, Mr Martin the Polish refugee primary teacher, or Dr Frost, the German hiker, James’ plucky mother and his father, the former infantry sergeant, who never speaks about his experiences of a war that is still ever-present in James’s young life.
Life for the Swanstons changes dramatically with the father’s unexpected promotion into management of a whisky bond, while food rationing is gradually lifted and social and educational opportunities improve. Social commentary and authentic dialogue are skilfully interwoven with humour to give the reader a genuine insight into the family’s struggles and joys.
The tale’s sense of authenticity owes a lot to its language, both as a medium and a theme. Much of the dialogue is in local Scots, in contrast to the ‘proper speak’ of the boy’s teachers, a constant source of anxiety for young James. And if language, characters and locations don’t make the book Scottish enough, there’s The Bard who occasionally crosses James’s path and whose poetry is echoed in the chapter titles. Readers not familiar with Scottish national poet Robert Burns or the Scots language will find a useful glossary on the author’s website.
Jack Melrose says that he wanted to “open a window on life as it was back then, growing up in a Scottish family that was virtually destitute in its early days, then seeing life get better as the impacts of a world war receded. I hope that the book will help preserve voices from a world that is rapidly being forgotten”.
Back tae Auld Claes an’ Porridge: A New Start (Book 1), Jack Melrose Publishing, now available on Amazon, with Book 2 forthcoming.
See the author’s website for more information and chapter excerpts at https://jackmelrose.nz