Böcker av Neil Stanners

This is poetry with a lifetime thrown in.

In 1882 a French naval supply ship was taken by a band of convicts from one of their South Pacific penal colonies and sailed away to freedom. The 28 men aboard the vessel vanished into the rainforests in tropical north Queensland.Today most of these men live in the quiet little town of Ville Perdu, in the heart of the state close to desert country.Some live elsewhere, in other places.They have visitors from their old home village in France.They continue to exist.It is unclear why these events are possible, just that they are.They have the gift of time.

Sequel and conclusion to the story 'The Magic Room' about three people who find refuge in a partially destroyed building in Berlin during the last days of WWII. The soldier, Dieter Falke, the girl Adriane Gerst and the Hitler youth boy Hauke Kluge have lost everything and everybody in their lives. They only have each other. They plan to escape together to get away from the Russians who now have the city and to reach the American occupied part of Germany.In a last-minute skirmish the boy is killed. Dieter and Adriane escape and eventually reach the American zone.'The Knowing Room' finds the boy alive in a Russian Field Hospital. The Russians are searching for scientists from the German rocket program and they think the boy may have some information they need. When he is well he is taken under the wing of the Russian area commander.Eventually, he is listed as a war orphan. Through guile and tenacity, he finds his way to Dieter and Adriane who are now living on a farm near Willingen.He befriends a local girl and together they discover some terrible truth about two men working on a nearby farm. He is caught up in a local dilemma concerning the activities of these two men as operatives at Auschwitz. What do you do with war criminals with a history of such terrible crimes?

Where do you hide in a dying city?Where some want revenge, some will never surrender, some are crazy, others are evil and then there are those who just want to survive.Is there a place that is safe? A place where they won’t find you? Who can you trust? Who will help?And when the time is right, can you escape?Adriane Gerst has run all the way into Berlin.It is April 1945 and the Russians are right behind.Dieter Falke has fought the Americans across half of Europe. He has had enough.Hauke Kluge doesn’t want to fight. He’s twelve and too young to die.They all need somewhere to go and be unseen and safe.A place where no one would think of looking.Is there such a place?

We were all children once. Take this winding path through childhood past and present.A boy living in a coastal town in WWII and longing for a father to come home. A bunch of kids stumble on a famous star having a holiday. A farming family find themselves in a flood. Three siblings decide to take on and defeat a myth. A special relationship on an ocean voyage. A childhood love affair and its consequences. Teenage testosterone has its day. Being a great musician of the future all starts with the past. Admiring the girl next door has age constraints. As the firstborn in a Chinese family in a conservative town it’s very hard to be a child.When are you too young to play the blues?Pick the time and place. Pay and visit. Look up some memories.Recognise a moment.