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True Colours: Drawn from life: inspiring, entertaining and moving true stories and poems

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Boxset of six inspirational, entertaining, moving books based on true stories from an award-winning author, photographer, beekeeper, mad dog lady, cat breeder, literacy expert and mother. Jean Gill's truth takes many forms and the reader's journey through these books is as rich in discovery as her life has been to date.

Someone To Look Up To: A dog's life in the south of France, from the dog's point of view. 'Jean Gill has captured the innermost thoughts of this magnificent animal' Les Ingham, Pyr International
From puppyhood, Sirius the Pyrenean Mountain Dog has been trying to understand his humans and train them with kindness. How this led to their divorce he has no idea. More misunderstandings take Sirius to Death Row in an animal shelter. Doggedly, Sirius keeps the faith. One day, his human will come.

How Blue is My Valley: A memoir. Jean Gill's first year living in Provence, a laugh-out-loud account of following your dream and adopting a new country. 'Such a vivid picture of the fields of lavender, sunflowers and olive trees that you could almost be there with her.' Living France Magazine
With Double Blade: Poetry so sharp it hurts when you laugh. '...the humour frequently has the effect of pointing up the stark reality with which she writes.' - Ted Griffin, Pause Magazine

From Bedtime On: Poetry that hits home. Finalist in the 2018 Kindle Book Awards
These new editions contain the 'stories behind the poems', adding the personal context to the work for which Jean Gill was first known as an author.

One Sixth of a Gill: Short stories, blogs and poetry. An emotional roller-coaster with people you'll never forget. 'A fantastic array of wonderful prose, from bee-keeping to Top Tips on Dogs! A FINALIST and highly recommended.' The Wishing Shelf Awards

Faithful Through Hard Times: A WW2 biography. Malta: Four years, 3 million bombs, Zero Hour Food approaching. The true story from a Scottish soldier's eye-witness account written at the time in a secret diary, a diary too dangerous to show anyone, and too precious to destroy. 'The diary was kept secret because it had to be. Taylor knew he would be in trouble if it were found. There is no censor in the diary.' The Scottish Association for the Teachers of History

1020 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 16, 2020

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About the author

Jean Gill

46 books242 followers
Award-winning Welsh author and photographer Jean Gill lives in Provence with the best scent-hound in the world, a Nikon D750 and a man. Best known for writing epic medieval adventures in The Troubadours and The Midwinter Dragon series, Jean has published 27 multi-genre books since 1988, including the dog bestseller 'Someone To Look Up To'. Although she’s hung up her beekeeping gloves, she still cares about her wild neighbours, which include boar, badgers, foxes and hares.

For many years, she taught English, and was the first woman to be a secondary headteacher in the Welsh county of Dyfed. She is mother or stepmother to five children so life was hectic. With Scottish parents, Welsh and French residence and an English birthplace, she can usually shout for the winning team in sporting events.

She loves to hear from readers. Contact via her jeangill website.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Kristin Gleeson.
Author 31 books115 followers
October 16, 2020
A wonderful collection of works from an author whose wide-ranging talent shows through. Jean Gill brings together various works from her collection of books that reflect some aspect of her personal life. In the tale of a dog Syrius (Someone to Look Up To)there's a personal from-a-dog's-point-of-view charming account of a dog's life that will really appeal to dog lovers and win over those who don't, no doubt about it. In 'Faithful Through Hard Times' Jean Gill shares with us some personal accounts of her father's experience in Malta during WWII, material that hasn't been told in official accounts and doesn't breeze over the difficulties the troops encountered there. Jean Gill's short stories and essays are charming and original and reveal parts of herself that many will relate too, as I did. Her poetry collections are also revealing and heartfelt but also showing lovely mastery of images created with words. The other memoir in the collection, 'How Blue Was My Valley' is a wonderful account of her move from Wales to Provence and all the ups and downs such a major upheaval creates. As someone who did something similar I found this story particularly appealing and its humour and pathos extremely on target. A truly wonderful collection to get stuck into.
Profile Image for Paul Trembling.
Author 25 books19 followers
October 21, 2020
Jean Gill is a writer you can trust.

I know this because I’ve read eleven of her books overall, including two out of this boxset, and although the genre varies widely (fantasy, historical fiction, non-fiction and others) the quality does not. She is a master wordsmith, and whatever she writes she brings to it humour, insight and a smooth flow of words that will involve you deeply in her narrative.

So I have no problem in recommending this collection to you – both the two books I have read (‘How Blue is my Valley’ and ‘One Sixth of a Gill’) and the four I haven’t yet read (but plan to do so soon!). She won’t let you down.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews