Cautious, A Boat Adrift Paperback / softback

"The land of men is an untouched one. It is the companionship of quiet. It is so manydarkened boats, heading their own way, in the night."Leeds, 2017.

Disaffected journalist Fred Whitby and his mother visit Grandad Normanfollowing the death of his callous second wife, Brenda.

Norman has relapsed into alcoholism. Brenda's daughter and her husband have invaded the house. Whilst writing a diary in attempt to revive his creativity, Fred finds himself cast adrift in hisfamily history, trying frantically to piece together the fragmented memories, half-truths,secrets and mythologies that lie therein.

Disappearances. Post-war protection rackets. AnIRA bomb plot. Romantic rivalries. The kidnap of a traitorous miner. As spectres of the pastmeet with the looming presence of a post-truth future, Fred must navigate the illogical andunprovable stories of his grandfather and come to terms with the absence of irrecoverablevoices in his quest for whatever truth and meaning remains.