Welcome to Sylvia Murphy's Books

Sylvia Murphy was born in Palestine and brought up in war-torn England,one of a family rooted in conflict. She writes about these conflicts in her novels; her earliest books looked at family life from a humorous point of view but later the stories and their characters have taken on a darker side.

Sylvia's last book is a memoir rather than a novel. Tyfoon's Tale - the true story of a seafaring cat is her version of an animal memoir, a very popular genre at the moment. Publication date was the end of June and it is proving popular with a whole lot of people (see Review section.)

Sadly, soon after the launch of "her" book, Tyfoon died. She was very old (for a cat), she had lived with me for 20 years, and she was suffering from tumors. She needed to go on the journey to her last big sleep, but I miss her just the same - terribly.

To keep me going through this, I sat down and wrote another cat story - this one about a gang of feral cats I knew in Ibiza - It is called BIG GINGER - the life of a remarkable cat. Unlike TYFOON'S TALE, which is told about the cat relationship from the human point of view, in BIG GINGER I have taken the liberty of assuming that the cats can tell their own story and I have related what I think may have happened to them. I like the result. TRY IT AND SEE IF IT WORKS FOR YOU. BIG GINGER is now on sale through the usual outlets, and both books can be bought together at a modest discount, to fill some cat-lover's Christmas stocking.

Just to complete the story, this year I have also published TRUST - another family-based novel with some nixed-up characters in it. I have been working on this story for some time so I hope you like it. REVIEWS, PLEASE.

"TRUST"

TRUST

Two ambitious men meet through a chance encounter in World War 2, when one saves the other from a freezing death in the Arctic Ocean. In the ensuing peace, when Britain is struggling to restore its commercial status, they come together again and seize the opportunity to amass a fortune, only to destroy themselves and those they love through greed and vanity. Banker Giles Lambert deserts his wife and sons for the arms of a glamorous actress while retail tycoon Robert Luton tries to bully his beautiful daughter into a fashionable marriage. Once again Sylvia Murphy has painted an evocative picture of a disintegrating family life and the tensions that can arise between generations who will never understand each other's motives.

Another featured book by Sylvia Murphy

KEEPING NYALA IN STYLE

Improving a Classic Boat and maintaining her original elegance.

Nyala is an eleven-ton ketch built in 1933 and designed by Maurice Griffiths. This is the story of how the author and her husband brought the boat up to a suitable standard so that they could cruise and live aboard her. The task was a lengthy one and as the story unfolds, each step of the work is carefully explained and beautifully illustrated.

The wealth of useful information on how to fit new equipment without losing the essential character of a wooden boat has made this book a popular handbook for others who are involved in similar projects worldwide.