Product Description

Malcolm is the Painter Man, out of step with the art scene but determined to explore his own place in the landscape. He loves his family but, without meaning to, he isolates himself from Alice, the wife who inspires him. When she turns elsewhere for attention she takes their two children and leaves Malcolm to his restless art and his demons. Hanging by a thread - falling out with friends, in trouble with the law - he strives and fails to keep in touch with his confident, likeable daughter Caroline and his boy, David, an awkward chip off the old block. Recognition by an enigmatic art buyer is some comfort; but it is only when Suzie, a breezy aromatherapist, enters Malcolm's life that recovery seems possible. Together they track down the mystery of her London ghosts, and Malcolm sees a chance to redeem himself from his own nightmare - a long-ago accident in a Black Country factory. When family reconciliation comes - along with a taste of professional success - it is touching and true, prepared for with delicately woven plotting and masterly prose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #550730 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 5.42" w x 7.72" l, .75 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From the Publisher
Malcolm is the Painter Man, out of step with the art scene but determined to explore his own place in the landscape. He loves his family but, without meaning to, he isolates himself from Alice, the wife who inspires him. When she turns elsewhere for attention she takes their two children and leaves Malcolm to his restless art and his demons.
Hanging by a thread – falling out with friends, in trouble with the law – he strives and fails to keep in touch with his confident, likeable daughter Caroline and his boy, David, an awkward chip off the old block. Recognition by an enigmatic art buyer is some comfort; but it is only when Suzie, a breezy aromatherapist, enters Malcolm’s life that recovery seems possible. Together they track down the mystery of her London ghosts, and Malcolm sees a chance to free himself from his own nightmare – a long-ago accident in a Black Country steel works.
And when Malcolm forges stronger, reconciling links with his son and daughter it is touching and true, prepared for with delicately woven plotting and masterly prose.

About the Author
JEFF PHELPS lives in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and works as a local authority architect in Wolverhampton. He is widely published as a poet and short story writer, notably in London Magazine. Among a string of competition credits, he won first prize in 1991 in the Mail on Sunday Novel Competition which was judged by Fay Weldon and John Mortimer.