Old Haunts

by Kath Middleton

Farmer David Barlow is 83 when his doctor tells him he is dying.

Crown Farm is a happy place now but it hasn’t always been, and David’s diagnosis urges him to tell its dark history, and his part in it.

David must release from his nightmares the memories he’s been suppressing for almost seventy years. If he doesn’t pass the stories on soon, come to terms with them, and forgive himself, he will not rest in peace.

229 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2023

About the author

Kath Middleton began her writing with drabbles (100 words stories) and contributed a number to Jonathan Hill’s second drabble collection. It wasn’t long before she moved up a size to contribute short stories to anthologies. Shortly afterwards, she progressed to writing longer pieces and her first solo work, Ravenfold, was published to much acclaim. This was followed by the novella, Message in a Bottle. Several more books are in the pipeline and her first novel, Top Banana, was published in March 2015. In March 2016 she and Jonathan Hill published Is it Her - two novellas inspired by a painting. Kath likes to put her characters in difficult situations and watch them work their way out. She believes in the indomitable nature of the human spirit (and chickens).

Kath is retired. She graduated in geology and has a certificate in archaeology. When she's in a hole, she doesn't stop digging.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kath-M...

Reviews

[Andrew Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty of a Kath Middleton book is you never quite know what you’re getting. She even says herself that she writes in the cracks between genres, and this book is really no exception.
I was a little worried after reading the blurb that it would be a morbid read, but I need not have worried; it really was not. The whole ‘event’ was handled superbly, and even the denouement was cheerful, yet I still had a tear in my eye.
As always, the writing was crisp, the story a constant delight page after page, the feelings expressed by each character were a joy to read, and it was easy to imagine that this was not a work of fiction at all.

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely read from Middleton – emotion, suspense, laughter, kindness, characters you want to spend time with and memories that haunt you. A delight.

[Livia · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Barlow , now 83 years old was born and raised on Crown Farm ..At just fourteen years of age he is put to work ..and knows everything there is to know about farming. When he is given the news that he is dying , he decides to lay old ghosts to rest , surrounded by those that love him ..A Beautiful, Gentle Tender story of a man in the final season of his life..