Dance the Moon Down by R.L. Bartram {Spotlight}

Today we are spotlighting Robert Bartram's book Dance the Moon Down and the book has already received 17 five star reviews and was nominated as book of the month on "Wall To Wall" books.

In 1910, no one believed there would ever be a war with Germany. Safe in her affluent middle-class life, the rumours held no significance for Victoria either. It was her father's decision to enroll her at university that began to change all that. There she befriendes the rebellious and outspoken Beryl Whittaker, an emergent suffragette, but it is her love for Gerald Avery, a talented young poet from a neighbouring university that sets the seal on her future. After a clandestine romance, they marry in January 1914, but with the outbreak of the First World War, Gerald volunteeres but within months has gone missing in France. Convinced that he is still alive, Victoria's initial attempts to discover what has become of him, implicate her in a murderous assault on Lord Kitchener resulting in her being interrogated as a spy, and later tempted to adultery. Now virtually destitute, Victoria is reduced to finding work as a common labourer on a run down farm, where she discovers a world of unimaginable ignorance and poverty. It is only her conviction that Gerald will some day return that sustaines her through the dark days of hardship and privation as her life becomes a battle of faith against adversity.

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Author Bio:

Born in Edmonton, London, in 1951, Robert spent several of his formative years living in Cornwall where he began to develop a life long love of nature and the rural way of life. He began writing in his early teens and much of his short romantic fiction was subsequently published in various periodicals including, "Secrets", "Red Letter" and "The People's Friend"
Never one to let the necessity of making a living get in the way of his writing, Robert has continued to write for the best part of his life, whilst holding down a succession of jobs which have included Health Food Shop Manager, Typewriter Mechanic and Taxidermist - yes, you read that correctly!!
His passion for the history of the early twentieth century is second only to his love of writing. It was whilst researching in this area that he came across the letters and diaries of some women who had lived through the trauma of the First World War. What he read in them inspired him to write his debut novel "Dance The Moon Down" and the rest, as they say, is history.
Robert is single and lives and writes in Hertfordshire.

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