About the Author: A retired civil servant, Jack Leathem lives with his wife Maureen, in Waringstown, a village in County Down, Northern Ireland.  He was educated at Stranmillis teacher training college and Queen’s University, Belfast.  He takes an active role in a local rugby and cricket club, plays golf and enjoys gardening.  He writes poetry, short stories and the occasional longer work when he finds time to do so.

Excerpt from the book:

"The logs had crackled gaily when first placed on the fire.  Originally gathered with kindling from the woods behind the cottage, they had been fetched from a stockpile next a gable wall, where they made a tidy supply for the following winter.  Having sat for two months, and with their sap now dried, they burned well and threw out good heat.  Some of the greener wood smoked a bit, and evidence of down draughts from the narrow chimney could be seen in the blackened walls and oblong smudges above the hearth.

The fire had been lit that morning, the first since the ending of spring.  Although it was late May, the recent weather had been unseasonable and the cottage had been growing colder by the day.  The fire had been replenished four times, but at present it was dying, and where once the wood had burned fiercely red, now it was disfigured by grey striations as it shed heat and substance.  Ash began to form where once there had been solid matter."

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Jack Leathem (author)

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