ROSA BRANSON: A PORTAIT

THE RED BEACH HUT

"From the first pages of this novel, Michell sets up an atmosphere of such convincing threat that the reader's expectations are on red alert."  

- Jenny Garrod. DURA. Dundee Univesity Review of the Arts.
Read the full review here:dura-dundee.org.uk/2017/09/22/the-red-beach-hut/

"The prose is achingly beautiful. I doubt there can be a better, more poetic or lyrical writer when it comes to sea and shore and to the timelessness of being out on the water in a boat."

- Avril Joy, Costa and People's Prize winning author

Read the full review here:www.goodreads.com/book/show/35329869-the-red-beach-hut

"Lynn Michell writes a beautifully innocent and endearing tale twisted by the tainted gaze of society's perverse darkness. She presents the reader with the delicate and fragile moments in which one reveals oneself to another and hopes that that this vulnerability will be met with compassion."

 - Isabelle Coy-Dibley for The Contemporary Small Press

Read the full review here: thecontemporarysmallpress.com/2017/07/14/skimming-over-black-glass-and-counting-lies/

"A faded seaside town in Autumn is the perfect setting for this elegiac story of a vulnerable boy and the adult who befriends him. The sense of jeopardy is palpable. As the narrative flicks backwards and forwards, we're also reminded that in any part of Britain, ignorance and bigotry are never far away."

 - Ali Bacon. Between the Lines

Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35329869-the-red-beach-hut

"By touching chords of such tenderness and insight, Lynn Michell positions the simple inside truths of these two characters way above the exterior actions of the 'authorities'.'

 - Book Oxygen

Read the full review here: https://bookoxygen.com/?p=7599

"Neville is so beautifully drawn on the page - he has his own particular way of looking at the world and despite his life so far his worldview is so simple and lovely I just wanted to give him a big hug and make everything better, and in many ways that is what Abbott is doing during the course of the story. Please read this book, I honestly feel that it's a really important read."

 - Ninja Book Box

"A parable for our times... a sensitively written contemporary story and an intriguing book about secrets, assumptions, and consequences. I found it beautifully descriptive and the boy is beautifully realised."

- Derek Thompson, Author of Standpoint, Line of Sight, Cause & Effect, Shadow State.

Read the full review here:www.goodreads.com/book/show/35329869-the-red-beach-hut

"A compelling book that examines bigotry, ignorance, redemption and friendship. Beautifully told."

 - Heidi James, author of Wounding.

'Some of the best writing I've seen in a long time. The characterisation of Abbott and Neville is quite superb: the unease of the man and the perfectly credible affection he feels in response to the boy's humanity. The boy's moments of excitement, fear of happiness being snatched away and awareness of adult moods are all quite superbly drawn. Lynn Michell conjures up the somehow appealing desolation of a faded British seaside town. The opening paragraph is a tour de force. You want to jump right in.'

 - Howard Sergeant, Writer and ghost writer.  

"The innocence and trust of the relationship between Abbott and Neville is beautifully conceived."

 - Susie Nott-Bower. Author of The Making of Her.

Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35329869-the-red-beach-hut

"Delicately beautiful and gorgeously descriptive."

 - SarahLouise writes

Read the full review here: www.sipnseeblog.com/single-post/2017/10/11/The-Red-Beach-Hut-Blog-Tour

You can buy The Red BeachHut here: https://www.linen-press.com/shop/the-red-beach-hut/

RUN ALICE RUN

With a voice as unique as its heroine, Lynn Michell tells the story of one woman's attempt to understand and acknowledge her past in order to secure and save her future. Her characters are strong and believable. Her settings in Birmingham and Edinburgh are recognisable and fresh, yet coloured by the emotional baggage that Alice brings to them. Insightful and engaging - storytelling at its very best.

- Brook Cottage Books

Run Alice Run traces the breaking points of a young girl's heart and the ways in which each fracture moulds her into the woman she's become.

- Isabelle Coy-Dibley, The Contemporary Small Press

A very rare thing - a literary novel about female ageing and sexuality that pulls no punches, and it should be applauded for that.

- Chapter and Verse

In this eloquent novel, Lynn Michell ultimately weaves a poignant tale of hard-won freedom. It illustrates how a mutilated sense of self can translate into a set of behaviours that range from self-harm to rebellious cries for help.

- Jenny Garrod, Dundee University Review of the Arts

Melodrama interlocks with irony and subtly paints a portrait of the ageing beautiful woman in Western society. The strength of the book is its humour and that humour remains, despite the drama and the serious issues posed in the narrative about women in today's society.

- Laura Martignon, Amazon reader

You can buy Run, Alice, Run here:https://www.linen-press.com/shop/run-alice-run/

SHOOTING STARS ARE THE FLYING FISH OF THE NIGHT

In this book, I recognise many of the mistakes I myself have made. If you dream or plan to sail off into the blue, you will learn from this book. A great read for those who are going or want to go over the horizon!
- Sir Chay Blyth

Shooting Stars are the Flying Fish of the Night should be compulsory reading for anyone intending to make their first extended offshore trip under sail, especially if the boat is also new to them.
"It is also an endearing human story of three members of a family; father, mother and son battling to survive both physically and emotionally. It tells of Lynn's anguish in having allowed their chronically ill son, Louis, to accompany them and Louis's unfailing loyalty to both his parents. Few families put themselves through such a test and then have the courage to commit it all nakedly to paper.
- Chris Hawes, Yacht Fractions

You can Shooting Stars are the Flying Fish of the Night here: https://www.linen-press.com/shop/shooting-stars-are-the-flying-fish-of-the-night/

WHITE LIES

"A debut novel which possesses and is possessed by a rare authority of voice... It is the mother's voice that sings White Lies into unforgettability. Hers and Eve's. Their thoughts and writing ring like music..."

- Tom Adair, The Scotsman Read the full review

"An anatomist of the human heart."

- Wanda Whitely, HarperCollins

"Gripping... with a bombshell of an ending."

- Michele Hanson, The Guardian

"Moving, memorable and totally absorbing. Captures perfectly the trials of a middle-aged woman trying to care for and build a relationship with her distant father, now in his dotage, through the writing down of his memories."

 - Sophie Radice, Guardian & Observer columnist

"Credible and touching. Dramatic and tragic."

 - The Torch

"A naturally gifted writer and not afraid of ambitious projects as this one is. Great filmic potential." 

- Christopher Rush, author of Will

"... a fine job capturing the time and transporting the reader there whilst exploring the reactions, feelings and fears of those who lived through the early stages of the Emergency. A first class read."

 - Martyn Day, Lawyer for former Mau Mau insurgents against the British Government

"A wonderful evocation of Africa not just as a place but as a milieu, strangely seductive and yet riddled with all the inherent contradictions of the White Man's Burden and the White Man's Guilt. Lynn Michell is an extremely accomplished writer. There are passages of extraordinary vividness and beauty and the characters spoke to me very convincingly. I love the sense, by the daughter, of unease at her father's painting of a golden era of colonialism, the spaces, the gaps that he is unwilling or unable to discuss."

.- Edwin Hawkes, Makepeace Towle

You can buy White Lies here: https://www.linen-press.com/shop/white-lies/

LETTERS TO MY SEMI-DETACHED SON

"Letters to my Semi-Detached Son came into The Women's Press as an unsolicited manuscript among many hundreds of others and managed to make that almost impossible transition from an unsolicited manuscript to a selected title for our list. We were impressed by Lynn's lyrical style and her ability to take a personal issue and communicate it to a very wide readership. Letters to my Semi-Detached Son received widespread coverage and was translated into several languages. She is a very talented author."

- Kathy Gale, MD The Women's Press

"A story of such painful intensity that tears poured down my face as I read it. No mother could fail to identify with her anguish and guilt, or her sense of failure."

 - Celia Dodd, The Independent

"A very modern situation that will send a sympathetic shiver down any parent's spine."

- Hazel Leslie, Mail on Sunday

"A brutally honest account of how her own emotional needs and those of her little boy came into conflict. The sheer despair and desperate sense of guilt is something most mothers will identify with."

 - Jean Donald, The Herald

"Moving, tersely written and painful to read. The honesty is remarkable. I was left with some uneasy feelings, like I had read someone's diary, but then, perhaps, the controversial nature of this book is its strength." 

- Penelope Aspinall, Event

SHATTERED: LIFE WITH ME

"This is a timely and powerfully written book and Lynn Michell is uniquely qualified to write it." 

- Bernard MavLaverty, author of Cal, Lamb, Grace Notes and The Anatomy School.

"Shattered is a powerfully written account of life with ME - an unpredictable and devastating illness. Definitely a 'There but for the grace of God go I' book, and one that should throw some much-needed light on this terrible condition."

 - Tuam Herald, June 2003

"Inspiring stories, not simply of broken lives, but of survival and hope in the face of terrible adversity."

 - Dr Vance Spence, Chairman of MERGE

"Throughout this book, the reader is kept on a steady and reassuring journey of validation and support. The stories by other ME patients work to solidify Michell's broad but well-rounded overview of a life made more difficult by an invisible chronic illness. Identifying with the ME stories in this book reminds us that we are not alone in this fight." 

- CF Alliance Newsletter 2003

Shattered is now out of print.