Maybe there’s something in the water. Or perhaps it’s just the contentment that comes from living in the pleasant climate of mid France but the fertile mind of Guild member George Macpherson has produced a third novel featuring three of his favourite subjects – agriculture, music and sex!
George gives us an appealing description of Expressions of Love: Against an agricultural setting in Southern England, this emotional story confronts head-on ‘the class thing’ and ‘the sex thing’ and how a young couple navigated from childhood through such hazards. It also follows the fortunes of a land-owning family confronted with profound change – or ruin.
In the years after World War Two, a village boy in Dorset finds himself a victim of class prejudice at an early age when the daughter of the manor decides he is what she wants.
Both children are victims of their history; Harriet is one of several sisters in a family of landed Catholic gentry whose fortunes are crumbling. Jeremy, the son of a respected craftsman goes on to pursue a career in land management.
By then, Harriet is set to be a professional violinist – until something happens to change everything.
As teenagers their love for each other develops and endures despite the wide gulf between their classes and religions. Musical talent, shared by both of them, provides opportunities to meet and enjoy each other’s company – as do Young Farmers Club dances. Their passion for playing chamber music brings friends and social recognition.
They discover that the dedication and patience needed to perfect their playing of stringed instruments can also be applied to bypassing the barriers of class and religion. The supreme satisfaction of performing in a quartet is matched in their working lives and personal relationships as the lovers follow their training, logic and natural instincts.
George’s third novel is available as an e-book of some 95,000 words and is available to download from Amazon (ISBN 978-0-9566386-2-5) for Kindle or any other e-book reader for £1.39.
- George Macpherson is former proprietor of Independent Farm Business News (IFBN) and editor of Big Farm Management. He is retired and lives with his wife in France.
