Books by Sylvia Murphy

BIG GINGER

A young Ginger cat finds himself separated from his mother on a foreign island. Determined to be re-united with her, he begins a journey around the island to find her.

This is the story of how he progressed in his quest as he grew up into a strong, independent cat. It's the story of the people he met along the way who helped him - Rocky, Liza, Corazon, the kind lady with the garden full of strays. It's also about those who threatened him, like the fishermen, Carlos the tabby and the menacing fur robbers.

Most of the characters here are people and cats I have really known. Some of the things that happened to them are figments of my imagination, but not many. There was a Ginger and a Rocky, both of whom distributed their genes liberally around the island. If you know what you are looking for you can easily find their descendants.

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.

CANDY'S CHILDREN

A wealthy Palestinian businessman, a middle-aged rock star, an Australian university lecturer, a nun, and an English aristocrat why are these five ill-assorted people meeting up in a stately home in Yorkshire?

They are the children of Candy Price, one time film star and recently dowager Countess of Penmore. She has been murdered by an assassin's bomb on a mysterious visit to Tel Aviv and they are gathering for her funeral  - an event that will change all their lives one way or another.  For they all have personal issues to resolve as a result of their mother's colourful and defiant life. This has stretched from the partition of Palestine, through World War 2 in England and a miserable marriage to a fighter pilot, to being married to a Hollywood film star in the sixties, to having an affair with the heir to the Penmore title.

The story is told through action before, during and after the funeral. The five offspring have never all been gathered together before, as the Countess was prone to lose custody battles which led to her children being brought up by their different fathers.

As we learn more about their disparate lives, it becomes apparent that each of the children has a different perception of their mother as a result of their upbringing.

CROCODILES

After the collapse of his comfortable life as an up-and-coming city banker Paul Tolley answers a cry for help from Africa where his brother Rob runs a tourist lodge with his wife Elsa. Rob has disappeared, leaving Elsa on her own. Paul knows nothing about Africa and soon learns that nothing is what it seems and nobody can be trusted. Everything is dangerous - the people as well as the wildlife, and in particular the crocodiles among them who are ready to devour anything in their path.

DEALING WITH A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

How to manage the emotional and practical difficulties surrounding a death
How To Books

Much as we may prefer to avoid thinking about it, sooner or later every family has to face up to the death of one of its members. This book helps anyone who has to work their way through the practical maze of legal and social arrangements before they can be left in peace to mourn the departed.

Not currently available

ECHOES - Poems By Sylvia Murphy

Author Sylvia Murphy has been writing poetry for over sixty years and this is a collection of some of her favourite pieces.

KEEPING NYALA IN STYLE

Improving a Classic Boat and maintaining her original elegance.

EVER WANTED TO HAVE AN ADVENTURE? GO TO SEA? SAIL AROUND THE WORLD?

This is how we did it ...

First we had to find our boat.
Nyala is an eleven-ton wooden ketch built in 1933 and designed by Maurice Griffiths. We found her in a less than seaworthy state in a boatyard in Plymouth, and this is the story of how we rescued her, against the advice of our friends, and restored her to a suitable standard so that we 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..

Not currently available

SURVIVING YOUR PARTNER

Living with the death of the person closest to you

"This book gives the bereaved hope and empowerment" George Penaluna

Losing your life's partner is a devastating experience. Whether the partnership was long and the surviving partner is well into old age, or whether it was relatively short and the survivor has much of his or her life still ahead, the emotional and practical problems are enormous. Not only is there bereavement and all its associated problems to face, there is also the prospect of becoming single again.

This book addresses and analyses those problems and provides strategies to help the survivor to move on in a life that must, or necessity, be changed for ever. Sylvia Murphy, BA MPhil has worked for a bereavement charity and has been a writer and teacher for 20 years. She has first hand experi­ence of losing her own partner in tragic circumstances, which enables her to bring a unique insight to the pages of this book.

THE COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF SALLY FRY

What is to be done when your thesis is long overdue, your son has run away from home and even retreating to a remote holiday cottage in Cornwall with a mother adept at absorbing (or is it attracting) problems has not brought the required peace and quiet?  For Sally Fry, the harassed heroine of this unusual novel, the answer is to write her Complete Knowledge: bits and pieces of random information which she hopes will clarify and make sense of her haphazard life.  But, far from clearing her mind for more serious work, Sally’s Knowledge increasingly comes to reflect the hilarious and often outrageous events which overtake her through the eventful summer.

"Sylvia Murphy writes with tremendous aplomb and disarming wit" - The Times

"Acidly observant and bitchy" - The Observer

"Most accomplished, very funny, very human" - Homes & Gardens

Not currently available

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BARLY BEACH

After the break-up of her ill-judged marriage, Jenny Sharpe takes refuge in unspoilt Barly Beach with her young son, Thomas. After an idyllic summer she decides to stay and they begin to carve out a place for themselves as part of the local scene. That is, until the Black Corporation decides it is time to exploit Barly’s potential for redevelopment and the sleepy backwater wakes up to defend itself.

"Written with subtlety and cunning and every page, sentence and word is completely delightful" - The Daily Telegraph

"Ominously entertaining" - The Guardian

TYFOON’S TALE The true story of a seafaring cat

REVIEW Name: Laura Quiggan Organisation: Cat World magazine Book: TYFOON'S TALE The true story of a seafaring cat Message: In 1989 Sylvia Murphy and David Greenland set sail round the world in their 60 year old yacht. Not the place for a cat, you might think, but while the couple were in Portugal they couldn't help but adopt one of the coountry's many sickly feral kittens that hung around the harbour waiting for a chance of food and friendship. Tyfoon's Tale is the story of how this little cat took over and organised Sylvia's life for the next 18 years. Comedy, disaster,courage and love all feature in this story. There are some great moments in this tale and imagining the chaos of two humans and a seafaring cat. It is not all 'plain sailing', such as the time when Sylvia and David dropped anchor for the evening and noticed that the boat was terribly quiet with no cat scampering around. After a search they concluded in horror that Tyfoon had gone overboard, but when and where? The resulting panic is something that the reader can't help but feel, as is relief at Tyfoon's reappearance. This is not a big book at 107pages but it certainly is a big journey. Have hankies ready... .