Sally Forth is an intriguing saga of the tribulations which bedevil the first 30 years of Sally Bridge's life from her childhood growing up with her twin sister in a highly idiosyncratic household in 1980s Oldham, to her chaotic adult life in London.
Sally meets with a succession of unusual events, bizarre twists and life-changing ordeals including one particularly devastating event which overwhelms her and changes her life in a way that she could never have predicted.
Although she is highly intelligent, resourceful and engaging, Sally finds it difficult to forge relationships (even with her twin sister) and to develop a sense of who she is. This is essentially a story of Sally's search for identity and of how she copes with the many misunderstandings, misjudgments and deceptions which assail her on her journey through life - a journey which, with the assistance of her penchant for wordplay and her pre-occupation with names, Sally is, nonetheless, able to take with good humour and fortitude.
Sally Forth is Ian Paterson's first novel. He is the author of three non-fiction works -
Private Company Share Sale Manual,
A Dictionary of Colour and
Odd Words, Even Numbers the last of which celebrates the fascinating connections between words and numbers. Both
A Dictionary Of Colour and
Odd Words, Even Numbers are published by Thorogood. Ian is also the creator of an intriguing new word game called
DefiniT - The Word Game, the rules of which are available in booklet form and as an eBook from Amazon. Ian is an avid collector of English Dictionaries.
Praise for 'Sally Forth': "... the book is about Sally's life and about identity, both personal and inherited ... the story unfolds at a brisk pace. The beginning is striking, '
Had she married him, she would have been called Sally Forth'... Throughout the book there are indications of the author's passion for words. Right from Chapter one there are amusing anagrams and clever play on words with Sally's name and anagrams. Ian loves word play in all forms. ...in the life of Sally and indeed that of her identical twin sister, Alice, many unexpected things happen which keep the reader gripped. Ian's excellent writing style makes 'Sally Forth' a real pleasure to read. The choice of language is always interesting. The story is compelling and flows enticingly on. I loved the book and found it easy to read. There is plenty of material for discussion on many of the issues it raises, including the complicated one of identity. This book would be good for a reading group to discuss." -
Jackie Dyson
