Here’s your chance to get to know the main characters in HIGH SPIRITS
So, what’s HIGH SPIRITS all about?
1944 – ALEC EDWARDS’ world was opened up when he fell in love with JEAN FRANCIS. From the quiet confines of his orderly museum where everything was catalogued, labelled and recorded, he had been propelled into the chaotic realms of romantic attachment. This was during the Second World War, a time of air raids, bombings and rationing. Then the ‘worst’ happened. Alec and Jean were in the museum after hours when the air raid sirens went. Alec, ever the vigilant curator, was loathed to leave his precious collections out of its case and vulnerable and insisted on finishing the job. Jean is less than impressed and a dispute ensued and just as she is in the middle of delivering a right royal ear bashing when a bomb lands…..
It’s 70 something years since the bomb fell and the museum is staging an anniversary exhibition. Part of the original bomb, which caused extensive damage to a wing of the museum is going on display, wit'sgside objects relating to the life and work of Alec. BETHAN ANDREWS is at her wits end. As the curator of the museum she is leading on the exhibition but there is one small problem – Alec’s life was dedicated to the curation and collection of objects and little is known in the museum about him personally. The museum’s board of trustees has insisted on the anniversary being recognized so in desperation she puts out a public plea for help via the local paper. PATRICK HARMAN, Alec’s great-great nephew, responds.
In the meantime, the local rag has pricked up its ears. Alerted by Bethan’s call for help, a reporter has unearthed a long forgotten tale of ghostly lights and apparitions in the museum; of dead curators seeking their lost treasure. This led to the wealthy but totally batty BASTIAN HEDGES, the producer of the global phenomenon The Ghost Doctor ©, to bribe the Trustees with a big fat cheque, in return for filming his Midsummer Special in the museum.
Patrick arrives with his grandfather, POP, a cantankerous old man, at the museum with memorabilia. Much to Bethan’s horror, she realizes that she and Patrick have crossed paths before as students, in particular at the Student Summer Ball, when Bethan threw her principles to the wind and had a drunken night of passion with Patrick. She is relieved when he appears not to recall her at all. However, she shouldn’t relax. He is just being a gentleman and not letting on! For him, rather than being a blur of alcohol and regret, he rather liked her but then the cold light of day dawn and Bethan was in denial. Now they are thrown back together.
What none of them could realise is…the ghost stories are true; the curator does haunt the museum. The day the bomb dropped, it did more than just damage the wing, it killed Alec and Jean and they’ve spent the past 70 years watching the world go by aided and abetted by a much older ghost, that of POL, an eleven-year-old girl from the Iron Age.
The stage is now set for some ghostly intervention and for love to conquer all.
In this post, we’re going to meet BETHAN ANDREWS
What should we know about her?
Bethan was born and raised in a small village in the Cotswolds that formed part of an estate belonging to the Farringdon family. Her father owned his own business and Bethan had grown up in the company of Tom Farrington the heir to Lassister Hall and estate. It seemed to the wish of both families that these two would marry and carry on the family name, however, an indiscretion on the part of Bethan put paid to all of that.
Bethan came to Partridge Hall by way of a London museum, which fell to the funding cuts and so she was let go. Plimpton Market and a small museum were not what she had in mind when she started out in the heritage sector and we find her at odds with her role.
What is the main conflict?
In the beginning we find Bethan attempting to reconcile herself with her role in a small museum. She has come from a dynamic environment to find that she is most definitely second place to the will of the Trustees which she finds most frustrating.
What are her personal relationships like and how do they shape her character?
Bethan moved to Plimpton Market and found that her accommodation plans had fallen through. Sal, the museum designer, immediately steps in and offers her a room which Bethan is at pains to point out will only be a short-term arrangement. Five years later and they are still living together in Sal’s old house. This connection is pivotal to Bethan and is more of a mother/daughter relationship than landlady and lodger. Sal is Bethan’s voice of reason and fiercest defender.
Her relationships with her parents are genial and homely although she nearly caused a schism when her romantic attachment to Tom broke off. They play no part in the story but clearly, there are no domestic problems. Having experienced a comfortable upbringing without stress, Bethan has turned out to be a level-headed young woman.
Her relationship with Tom was borne more of familiarity than love and it didn’t take much to expose that truth. She has steered clear of romantic attachment but that is thrown into conflict with the arrival of Patrick – a face from the past.
How do I get a copy?
HIGH SPIRITS is now available to download from across the Amazon market to your Kindle or Kindle apps for £3.99 or in paperback for £9.99
No comments:
Post a Comment