© Kevin Corby Bowyer 2024
Splinters of Silence
Twelve
tales:
secret
children,
stolen
babies,
rejected
lives,
betrayals,
romantic liaisons…
Poor
Terrel
has
a
problem:
he
cannot
decide
between
the
two
women
who
share
his
bed
–
the
milkmaid
or
the
governess.
One’ll
have to go – maybe…
Dilly
Sollett
must
make
a
big
decision
for
herself
and
her
little
girl.
Can
she
admit
to
the
love
she
feels
for
a
much
older
man?
Clouds
gather on the horizon; a plague is spreading from the west…
Who
is
this
old
codger
in
a
Bath
theatre
audience,
shamelessly
groping
his
teenage
bride
in
public?
Nancy,
sitting
nearby
with
her
friend, is not happy about it…
Old
Will
Crowan,
a
retired
cobbler
resident
in
Venice
for
twenty-
five
years,
reflects
on
his
empty
life.
His
beautiful
second
wife
entertains
her
lovers
while
Will
sits
day
after
day,
draining
his
twilight
years
in
a
café
on
the
Grand
Canal,
playing
dominoes
with
his
equally
expended
acquaintances.
What
remains
for
him,
other
than the grave?
James
Bevington
digs
out
his
mother’s
painting
gear
from
the
attic
and
wanders
the
countryside
around
York.
His
landscapes
are
far
from
perfect,
but
he’ll
work
at
it.
He
may
never
be
a
master,
but
he’s
happier
now,
the
decision
made.
His
violin
stays
at
home,
gathering
dust…
The
dark
things,
the
hidden
things
–
they
roam
these
pages
too
–
the monsters:
The
three
brothers,
torn
remnants
of
a
single
spirit,
seething
with
hate
for
the
Red
and
the
White, gathering souls to grind in the mill…
Sam Dunn, who has a certain exquisite, well-practised way of dealing with women…
The predator, stalking his prey – a solitary young girl – on the remote Cornish coast…
The
Angel
Gabriel,
tall,
thin,
sinister,
whose
services
can
be
bought,
stealing
from
the
rich
to
give
to
the
needy…
Finally,
she,
both
human
and
elemental,
her
piercing
eyes
and
flaming
hair,
terrifying,
gliding
in
her
gondola. Who is she?