Just a One Night Stand

Published March 2010

Set in the cultural twilight between the conservative 1950s and the liberating sunshine of the late 1960s, Just a One Night Stand tells the emotive story of unmarried Marion McKenzie who, at nineteen, becomes pregnant during a drunken one night stand with Martin Corrigan, a Somerset farmer’s son. Unaware of his paternity, Martin goes up to Cambridge University. Once she realises she is pregnant, Marion is forced to confess her plight to her fiancé, Simon Thompson. Furious at her infidelity and unwilling to father another man’s child, he gives her an ultimatum… him or the baby.

Too afraid of her divorced father’s reaction to confide in him, and unwilling to trust her mother not to tell him, Marion turns to her elder sister, Gemma. She reluctantly agrees to allow Marion to live with her in London until after the baby is born. Marion plans to have her baby adopted - until he is born with a serious medical complication. What will Marion do?

Just a One Night Stand deftly propels the reader back to a time without extensive state support - a time characterised by entirely different social mores from liberal 21st century Britain. For Marion, the 1960s were anything but swinging!

 

 

What Others Have Said...

 

"'Just a One Night Stand' ... deals sensitively with the prejudices that abounded at the time and it acts as a reminder of how much society has changed. The author establishes fully rounded characters, some of whom are difficult to empathise with! The detailed description of the procedures surrounding adoption and the ensuing struggle for acceptance was very interesting and I found it very moving. A very enjoyable read indeed!"

Gay Ryder

 

"I read a book a week. This is the best I've read so far this year."

Gillian Duncan (June 2010)

"To be honest I can't really say that I read it because actually I devoured it in 2 days. I tend not to be able to read a book at 'the not being able to put it down' speed unless I am on holiday and without the distractions of family and housekeeping/restoring or it has content that really captures my imagination and interest. I loved it."

Pat Kitchen

 

"Just finished your book, I couldn't put it down once I started reading it, was sorry to come to the end. Can't wait for the next one."

Debra Baldwin

"Your characterizations are remarkably deep (I've never said that before about any story). You've done an outstanding job of keeping the focus on Marion and Martin. You use narrative expertly to delve into what makes each person tick. They are sympathetic and interesting people.

Your pacing was spot on for my tastes."

Al

"OMG! you put me in Marion's head. I was there, killing that sprout with the girl!"

Nicky Jones

"This is a very different book from most. You have taken a theme which is important, and which seems, strangely, as if it comes from a far off era of history, now that things have changed so much, but which is well within the memory of so many people. You conjure up the sixties unerringly, with every detail perfect, and one of the good things about this book is the nostalgia which fills its pages. Alongside this, comes the pain of Marion and her family, the decisions which she is forced to make, the reality of her position in an age where, if a single mother didn't have her family's support, there was little else. Your smooth, professional writing brings us along at a fast moving pace."

Gerry McCullough

"I see the irony in “just”—this one night stand was anything but. Partly through your skillful inclusion of period details, you do a brilliant job of capturing the years of cultural twilight between the benightedness of the fifties and the liberating sunshine of the late sixties. Your tight, vivid prose and realistic, telling dialogue splendidly evoke Marion and draw the reader into her plight."

Maria L Lang

"I really love the time period in which you write this and that was why I was drawn to it. I think your characters are so well rounded that they really drive this book. You instantly feel for Marion and cannot help but like her. Laced throughout this story is a subtle yet driving humour. I commend you"

T.L. Tyson

"Well-written drama, evoking reality into the drug-fueled haze of the sixties with biting alacrity. I feel Marion's anguish and panic and I see her naivety and innocence. This is a good entrant into the genre, and I would expect it to generate quite a following."

Andrew

"This is so easy to read. Such a good flowing narrative. It promises to be full of complications. Very well set up with enough suspense to keep the reader really engaged."

Hilary Waters

"All I can say is holy cow. EXCELLENT writing. WONDERFUL story, and very believable."

Andrea Pearson