Bright Daffodill Yellow — Suzi Stembridge

The seeds from one man's romantic trysts with four different women have germinated. This novel beginning in the 1970s in northern Cyprus, progresses to the 1974 Turkish invasion. The main character is clearly hiding from someone or something. When the Turks overrun the Greek harbour of Kyrenia the British are forced to flee but at the same time Gerald, or is it Stephanos, or even Lawrence uses the opportunity to indulge in an expensive and painful disguise. With scenes in beautiful Cyprus, the English Lake District with mountainous excursions, plus the forbidding setting of a Harley Street surgery, the shocking tube disaster at Moorgate station, the dense woodlands of the Portmeirion estate and nearby seaside Criccieth, the backdrop is as dramatic as the action. Living incognito is never easy and the novel explores the fears of a haunted and hunted man and his naive attempts at disguise. When success seems possible, despite fate intervening during the Moorgate disaster and the dubious motives of those in the medical profession presumably there to help him, his own uncertainties about his sexuality return to overwhelm him. Will the need to acknowledge his male offspring prevail?