Island
of Dreams
Expected
Publication Date: December 1st, 2022
Genre: Historical
Thriller/ Historical Romance
A
love story set against the backdrop of the 1950’s Cuban Revolution.
In
May 1939, when Professor Carl Mueller, his wife, Esther, and their
three children flee Nazi Germany, and find refuge on the paradise
island of Cuba, they are all full of hopes and dreams for a safe and
happy future.
But
those dreams are shattered when Carl and Esther are confronted by a
ghost from their past, and old betrayals return to haunt them.
The
turbulent years of political corruption leading to Batista’s
dictatorship, forces the older children to take very different paths
to pursue their own dangerous dreams.
And
– among the chaos and the conflict that finally leads to Castro’s
revolution and victory in 1959, an unlikely love begins to grow – a
love that threatens the whole family.
Having
escaped a war-torn Europe, their Island of Dreams is to tear them
apart forever.
Coming
Soon!
Excerpt
May
1939, Havana, Cuba
‘It’s
so warm, Papa. It’s still night, but it’s so warm!’
Professor
Carl Mueller smiled down at his daughter, holding his hand at the
rail of the S.S. St Louis, the ship that had been their refuge,
their salvation, as it slipped slowly through the darkness towards
the sleeping city. A sense of relief washed over him, like the caress
of the tropical breeze.
‘We’re
in the Tropics, Anna. It’s always warm here.’
Anna
gazed at the shimmering lights of the city strung out along the
shore. 'Look! It's like one of Mama's diamond necklaces!'
'She
hasn't got them anymore!' snapped her elder brother, Hans, in German.
'We had to sell them to get on the boat!'
'Because
of your stupid Nazis!' replied Anna fierily.
'The
Nazis are not stupid!'
'Children,
children, don't fight!’ said their father firmly, but gently. 'And
please remember we must speak English now.'
Hans
snorted his annoyance, but said nothing.
As
the deep throb of the engines slackened below their feet, they fell
quiet. The scent of wet palms and exotic blooms filled Anna's
nostrils. She breathed deeply. At twelve years old her life was
beginning again. She breathed deeply once more. It was the smell of
freedom.
‘It
looks so beautiful, Papa. Our new home.’
‘It
isn’t our home!’ retorted Hans. His father looked at him. Hans
continued in English. ‘Germany is our home, isn’t it, Father! Our
Fatherland.’
‘Perhaps
one day, my son, it will be again. Until then...’ Professor
Mueller’s voice tailed off.
‘I
want to explore everything, Papa!’ Anna said excitedly. ‘I shall
learn Spanish and learn everything about Cuba!’
Her
father smiled at her again, but beneath the smile there was deep
sadness. There was one person who could teach Anna everything about
the island. A charming, lively, intelligent man who would make the
perfect guide to their new home. He didn’t know if the man had ever
returned to the island, his home, but if he had, Carl Mueller
fervently hoped that they would never meet him.
The
cab splashed to a halt, waking Freddie Sanchez as he was thrown
against the back of the driver’s seat. Streetlights dazzled him
from the wet, empty sidewalk. He felt disorientated and a little
sick. That last daiquiri was one too many. The last half dozen,
really.
‘Thank
you, Carlos,’ he muttered, groping for the door handle. ‘Put
it on my tab.’
‘Señor
Sánchez –‘
‘Mañana,
Carlos. Mañana, I promise.’
‘I
have a family to keep, Senor Sanchez –‘
‘You’re
a lucky man, Carlos. A lucky man. I have no one.’
He
stumbled from the cab, ignoring the muttered Spanish oath behind his
back. Freddie understood. Being half-Cuban, of course he understood.
But at such moments he leaned on his English side and played the
colonial.
The
cab squealed into a turn and roared back along the deserted sea-front
towards the casinos.
Leaning
against the harbour wall to support himself, Freddie remembered
falling headlong down the stairs of the Hotel Nacional, and the young
policeman catching him, saving him from breaking his neck.
‘You
have to be more careful, Senor Sanchez’, said the young man as he
helped him to a taxi.
‘Thanks,
Ramos,’ he had said. ‘I’m...er, just a little tired.’
Freddie
recalled the flash of gleaming white teeth, the sarcastic smile. Why
did he still pretend with people like Ramos, who must know as many
gutter secrets as anyone on the island. Ramos could care less about
him being a drunk, so why did Freddie pretend? Perhaps because the
years of excess still hadn’t quite left their tell-tale traces, and
the last thing to leave him was his vanity. From his medical
training, Freddie knew he'd been born lucky. He had a constitution
like the sea wall he was leaning against. Solid, resistant, able to
take anything that life threw at him. In body at least, if not in
mind. Certainly not in mind.
The
klaxon on the S.S. St Louis broke into his self-pity. Out in the dark
ocean, like a birthday cake ablaze with candles, the S.S. St Louis
stole into the arms of the harbour, the smoke from its stacks ghostly
wraiths against the night sky. It looked as if it was headed straight
towards the second-floor window of his tiny room by the harbour.
Nearly
a thousand refugees, the papers said, escaping from the Nazis. German
families like the one he once knew as a student in London. Where were
they now? Safe, he was certain. Professor Carl Mueller's family would
be safe...Despite the warmth of the night, at the thought of that
family, Freddie shivered. After so many years, the cold chill of
self-disgust still lingered.
About
the Author
Harry
is an award-winning UK screenwriter, who won the Writers’ Guild
Award for Best TV serial, while writing for Granada Television’s
‘CORONATION STREET’. Before that, in 1985, he was on the first
writing team for the BBC’s ‘EASTENDERS’.
Before
beginning his career writing drama for television, Harry spent a
dozen years working in British theatre, as stage manager, writer,
designer and director, working with actors such as Nigel Hawthorne,
Anne Reid and Lesley Manville.
After
script-editing the BBC’s HOWARDS’WAY, he freelanced for series
like DISTRICT NURSE, THE BILL, BOON, THE BRETTS, EMMERDALE.
In
1994 he became Head of Development at the UK independent company,
Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment. As the script executive he was
responsible for seven major television series, included ‘SWISS
FAMILY ROBINSON’ starring RICHARD ‘JOHN BOY’ THOMAS, and ‘TWIST
IN THE TALE’, featuring WILLIAM SHATNER. He also wrote the film,
RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND.
In
1998 he was the co-creator of the UK Channel Five teen-cult drama
series ‘THE TRIBE’, which ran for five series, numbering 260
episodes. ‘THE TRIBE’ has been sold world-wide, and all series is
on YouTube.
His
first novel, CHICAGO MAY, is the first book of a two-part series. He
has also written JAIL TALES, about his wife’s 20 year career in the
prison service, and the novel BIRTH OF THE MALL RATS, the prequel to
THE TRIBE.
He
has just finished his third novel, ISLAND OF DREAMS, to be published
on December 1st 2022.
Harry
Duffin
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