
A tale of life and love in the time of COVID-19, of long buried memories uncovered in the stillness of lockdown, and unexpected healing in the midst of a pandemic…
Seventy-five-year-old, green-fingered Albert Stridemore’s carefully ordered life has been unchanged for years. Content to live alone and diligently work his allotment, he safely buries the past as he turns the soil. But with the arrival of the coronavirus and lockdown, he finds himself digging up more than potatoes in the spring.
With time to think and an unexpected new acquaintance in the attractive widow Penny Finch, Albert is compelled to revisit past betrayals, even as his eyes are opened to a generous and richer world in the present.
And when injustice is exposed and the virus strikes close to home, Albert is thrust into a new role and makes some life-transforming discoveries…
Albert Stridemore’s Lockdown Discoveries is set in ‘real time’ between March and August 2020 and follows the events of those days as it tells the story of an ordinary man living in an ordinary street. But in these extraordinary times, this seemingly ordinary man and his neighbours, and this apparently ordinary place, provide the cast and the setting for a series of surprising discoveries and selfless acts of courage and devotion. Together, Albert and his neighbours learn that in this beautiful but dangerous world only faith and love can offer the strength and the sense of purpose we need to face the worst that can happen.
Chick Yuill says: ‘I had only just completed my previous novel at the end of March and had no intention of immediately starting on a new project. But in those early days of lockdown, the name of Albert Stridemore lodged itself firmly in my mind. And gradually the character of the man and the events of his life began to take shape and take hold of me. I think my readers will love him as much as I do.’
‘Chick Yuill has a wonderful ability to create characters who feel real and are multi-faceted. His writing makes the reader think. He also likes to drop some big and jarring surprises and twists into his books.’ (Anne Rogers, Together magazine)
Albert Stridemore’s Lockdown Discoveries is Chick’s fifth novel to be published by Instant Apostle following Rooks at Dusk, The Man Who Broke into St Peter’s, The Mystery of Matthew Gold and To The Fourth Generation.
As with his previous novel, all author royalties are being donated to charities working in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis.