An impressive and unusual first novel by Leslie Retallick, whose previous publications have all concerned the history and buildings of Torquay. His knowledge of the town underpins this novel which might, technically, be classified as science fiction, but it feels nothing like it. It is set in Torquay in the Aprils of two different years: 1898 and a year in the second decade of the twenty-first century; but the realistic sense of place and the lively, natural and often amusing dialogue allow the reader to feel equally at home in both years. Sixteen-year-old Matt and his uncle, Connor, whose 'own time' is ours, find themselves 'flipping' backwards and forwards between these two Aprils, while remaining in the same location on the edge of Torquay. In 1898 they become involved with a wealthy widow, Maria Debbon, and her three children, endangered by political scheming in connection with their family origins. Connor and Matt form emotional attachments to Maria and her elder daughter Helen respectively - relationships which are handled with insight and delicacy. The event at the heart of the novel - the destruction by fire of the Debbons' mansion on the night of 29th-30th April 1898 - has affinities with the burning of two other literary mansions: Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (also a West Country novel). Without making it explicit, Before The Fire offers a subtle and ingenious answer to the question: If we could go back in time, could we change the past? The book has forty-three black-and-white illustrations, mainly positioned between chapters. Some were created by the author; others are his photographs of Torquay today; but the majority are from his extensive collection of old photographs and postcards of Torquay.

About the Author
LESLIE RETALLICK WRITES: I was born in Hornchurch, Essex, one of the London suburbs that had spread out like a rash from the capital. When I was six my family moved to Rugby in Warwickshire, where I was educated. During my school days I developed a total lack of interest in all forms of sport through spending hours in the freezing cold on the school playing fields, but I did develop a passion for history by taking part in an archaeological excavation at the nearby Roman site of Tripontium. Our family moved again when I was seventeen to Torquay, where my parents bought a corner shop. Several years later, having tired of delivering boxes of groceries to the local hotels, I took a summer seasonal job at Torre Abbey, an historic house and art gallery in Torquay, which led to a full-time senior post during a thirty-six-year association with that building. There I expanded my interest in local history and have had a number of books and articles published on that subject. Later I became a full-time carer for my by then elderly and very frail parents until they both passed away, after which I used the caring skills I had acquired in those five years to become a primary carer for a seriously disabled local lady, to whom this book is dedicated. I am an avid photographer, a keen railway modeller, and passionate about local history, my knowledge of which underpins this novel.


Book Information
ISBN 9781912788187
Author Leslie Retallick
Format Paperback
Page Count 458
Imprint Colenso Books
Publisher Colenso Books
Weight(grams) 585g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 148mm * 23mm