A NEW collection of humorous short stories by Frome acclaimed author and journalist, Charles Nevin, is available to buy from Tuesday 28th February.
The collection of astute and witty stories that spans each decade of the twentieth century, called So Last Century, features General Haig, Noël Coward, Butch Cassidy, Margaret Thatcher’s bloomers and a racehorse strongly resembling Shergar.
The collection begins with Edward VII on a tricky country house visit and ends with one of the first national lottery winners struggling with fame, fortune and romance. On the way you’ll meet music hall entertainers in the First World War and two remarkable double agents in the Second, get raided in a 1920s London nightclub, take part in some lively coronation celebrations, and discover what really might have happened when the World Cup was stolen in 1966. Be warned: after this, you will never view the twentieth century in quite the same way again.
Charles says, “I turned to fiction after a successful career in journalism, and found that the genre which best drew on my skills and experience was the comic short story mingling real characters and settings with fictional adventures.
“My previous two collections, Lost in the Wash with Other Things, and Sometimes In Bath, took this approach further by following each story with an afterword separating the fact from the fiction and giving the historical background. After much thought about where I could take this idea next, I realised the answer was right behind me: the last, extraordinary century. Thus, So Last Century, my best yet.”
Charles, who lives in Frome, has written for the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday, the Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Sunday Times, the New York Times and many others. So Last Century follows the success of Sometimes In Bath, featuring his acclaimed stories set throughout the city’s extraordinary history.
You can pick up the book online from Tuesday 28th February at Book Guild: https://bit.ly/ 3j4bBRm
