The riskiest chance I ever took was in 1990, just
before my forty eighth birthday. I left England and moved to the small Channel
Island of Alderney to live with a man I did not know very well but had fallen
in love with. Having recently put an unhappy marriage behind me, I had to ask
myself if I was on the re-bound or whether it was a final flush of hormones, as
one friend so charmingly put it.
My family and friends thought I was crazy to even
contemplate it but after much soul searching and dithering I decided to go for
it. I left my two adult children in the UK and plunged headlong into the
unknown. Dave and I weren’t getting married, I told myself, I could always come
home if things didn’t work out.
Moving to the Channel Islands is like moving abroad.
The islands are not part of the UK and are outside the EU. They are Crown
Dependencies with their own governments, laws and taxation systems. It was a
real culture shock and following a hostile reception from some sections of the
island community I felt quite vulnerable.
However, in spite of difficulties and home-sickness,
the move turned out to be a good one. Dave and I had a happy relationship and
shared many interests including the island’s history and its natural
environment. Alderney has a wild and beautiful landscape. I started writing
articles for local publications and self-published a small booklet
‘Birdwatching on Alderney’. I settled down and made some very good friends.
Sadly, Dave died in 2010 and I returned to England to
be close to my children and grandchildren. I needed new friends and new
interests now that I was living on my own so I enrolled in a creative writing
class at the local adult education centre and discovered I enjoyed writing
fiction. I attended classes for four years. ‘Write about what you know’ was the
advice given by several tutors so I invented an imaginary island, peopled it
with fictitious characters and wrote about my own experiences.
In 2016 I self-published my first novel ‘Gâche and
Gossip – a year in the life of a small Channel Island’.
Thank you so much for taking part Jill, I'm so glad your move to The Channel Islands worked out so well.
In the summer of 1990 Lizzie Bayley moves to the tiny
Channel Island of Ormerey to live with Raoul St Arnaud, a man she has met on
only four previous occasions. Surprised by the hostility she encounters, Lizzie
finds it hard to settle down but she is befriended by Raoul’s cousin, Francesca
Saviano. Francesca has problems of her own. The man she loves, who had dropped
her without explanation forty years earlier, suddenly reappears in her life and
wants to resume their relationship.
On a wild and beautiful island, where land is
precious, the community is divided by a controversial planning application to
build a large hotel in the green belt. Against a background of public dissent
and personal feuds, Lizzie and Francesca both struggle to find a way to
happiness and fulfilment.
Book details
‘Gâche and Gossip’ by Jill Watson.
Paperback. £7.99. ISBN 978-0-9955512-0-6.
Publisher: Huitrier Pie Publishing
Distributor: York Publishing Services Distribution. www.ypdbooks.com
Giveaway open to the UK only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 22/06/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner. Good luck everyone.
Biography of Jill Watson
Jill Watson was born in Sheffield in 1942 and grew up
in rural Surrey where she developed a keen interest in the natural world. After
leaving school she trained, then worked, as a nursery nurse. She married in
1964, had two children and was a full-time mum until her divorce in 1984.
In 1990 she moved to Alderney to live with her
partner. For ten years she was the ‘Bird Recorder’ on Alderney and wrote
wildlife articles and self-published a small booklet ‘Birdwatching on
Alderney’. She returned to England in
2010 following the death of her partner and now lives in Tonbridge, Kent.
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