Another Spring: Five heart-warming seasonal tales

by John Needham

An un-named black girl finds awakening of love in her barren life. A young girl samples a first kiss with a young man after having a fright at the seaside in 1924. Two couples go through the hopes and anxieties of child adoption, finding they have something in common. The angst of being an ugly duckling teenage boy in the 1950s comes good, with a surprise twist in the tail. A writer reminisces about the recent years of his past in recollections bitter-sweet.

These are stories that will tug the heart strings and sometimes make you smile. And sometimes too, perhaps, they might provoke another sort of smile: a wry one of remembrance.

62 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2014

About the author

I was born in Rutland, the smallest (it's tiny) county in England. The first part of my childhood was spent idyllically (or so it seems in retrospect) in a village of limestone cottages; the second in the nearby Georgian town of Stamford. I began working life as a compositor, where I first became addicted to printer's ink, before going to art college and training for a graphic designer and occasional copywriter.
Later I discovered another addiction: renovating old houses (and it won't escape your notice that my novel Convergence is semi-autobiographical) and followed that noble calling for twenty years. The final chapter of my working life was spent landscape gardening.
Now blissfully retired in a village in Wales, I read a lot, write a lot and walk the gorgeous Welsh countryside with my doggy Best Friend Sali.

Reviews

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet little collection of five warm and tender short stories that will tug gently at your heartstrings by an author whose books I really love. Two are actually based on chapters from his books, a third is extracted from his forthcoming novel and the final two are stand-alone shorts. It was difficult to say a lot in general about a short anthology, so here are my thoughts about the individual stories:

The title Awakening says a lot about this lovely story of two shy people, their courtship and their journey to falling in love. It’ll bring to mind that special person who first captured your heart, left you tongue-tied and enthralled. Lily and Jerome will melt your heart with their endearing sweetness, as they did mine.

Skeggy Day Out (‘Skeggy’ is colloquial for Skegness, a seaside resort on the east coast of England, apparently) is about a day at the seashore circa the summer of 1924 and the ensuing occurrences that happen before and after Lisbeth and Cecils’ arrival there. I got amazing visualization from this story! Clearly laid out in the tableau I could see the beach filled with people, the happy echoes of their voices and the tang of the briny sea. All of this combined to make me feel as if I was right there with the characters.

Babies can always steal our hearts and make us ooh and aah over them, can’t they? There’s not one, but two adorable tiny little ones in this story. Baby Blues is about two couples who for various reasons want either to expand their family or achieve one. The gamut of emotions I felt reading this ran from deep sadness to joyous elation. Without giving anything away, my favorite scene takes place between one of the would-be fathers and one of the little boys. It was just so touching and real, it made me tear up. You will definitely need tissues for this one.

Then there’s Dream, Dream, Dream. It’s the love story of sixteen year old Trevor. Like many of us were back in the 1950s, he’s a shy and lonely young man longing for a special girl to be his. Enter Laura, who has everything he’s been dreaming of ... or does she? With The Everly Brothers’ beautiful hit song Dream resonating throughout, this is a very special love story for every season.

Another Spring rounds out this collection. This is the story of a writer and his family. He reminisces about their lives from past to present recalling a horrific incident that occurred at the most joyous time of the year, which tore their contented lives apart. This is a wonderful story, albeit a bit heart-stopping, about the strength of the human spirit.

I loved these stories. They’re appetizing tasters for Mr. Needham’s complete novels, Convergence and Forebears. Highly recommended!

[Susan Keefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories, each possessing different themes, but all written in the style of writing that lovers of John Needham’s other books will recognise.

John writes from experience, hindsight and observation. These stories are poignant, reflective, heartrending and celebratory, they will make you laugh, smile, think and reflect.

If you are a fan of fly on the wall stories or memoirs, you will love the way that his pen dips into the past as he captures the essence of life then, and the innocence of bygone days, in the first two of his short stories which are called Awakening and Skeggy Day Out.

Tantalisingly, Baby Blues is a taster for his next novel The One of Us. As two couples explore their thoughts and feelings whilst deciding whether they are going to adopt.

Of course everyone has fallen in love. Dream, Dream, Dream, takes its title from the famous song as one man reflects on life and love in the 50’s.

Whilst in the final story a writer shares a little of himself in Another Spring…

Even though two of the stories are modified extracts from the author’s novels Convergence and Forebears, the others are new, and I am confident in saying that fans of John’s writing will not be disappointed in this new book.

[Chantelle Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

These five short stories are a fine introduction to the authors work, and style of writing. If you have not read John Needham before, then this book would be a great starting point. Some of the characters from these stories are brought back to life in longer novels by the author, so if you enjoy them,as I have, in this book, you will certainly want to discover more about them within the authors other available titles. The author has a gentle and heart-warming style, which always brings a smile to my face. Perfect for cosying up with on a dark winter evening. His characters have the same effect on me; evoking sympathy and empathy and always making me smile and want to know more about them. I have just downloaded the latest book by this author, The One Of Us and am already intrigued and involved with the story.