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Rainbows over Acton by Tony Peterson 500 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0230; ISBN 1-4120-2402-1; US$36.00, C$39.95, EUR29.50, £21.00 A heart-warming and often humorous story of the lives of a group of 1950s teenagers as they grow into their twenties.
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about the book
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About the Book
The story of ten years in the lives of John Kersley, his family and his many friends. It opens in the summer of 1957 when John is in his seventeenth year. He falls for Jenny, their love develops and deepens. But later their romance will end in anguish and separation.
Beginning in Norfolk, the action then moves to London, after the fathers of John and Jenny join forces to buy a business. Driven by the entrepreneurs in the families, the development of the business mirrors many of the attitudes and methods of the time, whilst the heart of the story stays close to the lives of all the teenagers as they grow into their twenties, linked together by strong and enduring friendships.
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About the Author
Tony Peterson, who lives in Kent, spent many of his early holidays in Norfolk, later making a career in the world of commerce and in the professions. He enjoys travelling in France and visiting Monaco.
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Excerpts
Excerpt 1
'OK John,' replied Uncle Tom. 'Let's give it to you straight. Yesterday your Dad and I signed the papers with George Sutton and Barrs in order to buy the Sutton business. We shall own it from the first of September. Your Dad and I will own equal shares in the company. George Sutton will hold a minority share stake and he will stay to help us for the first three months, then he and his wife will be retiring and going to live in France.'
'I'll take over now,' laughed Dad. 'This is my moment of glory! John, yesterday your Mum and I arranged to rent a house in Ealing from the first of September. I phoned an estate agent in Derby and told him to sell our house in Alderthorpe as soon as possible. And I phoned my boss, told him I was leaving at the end of this month.'
'What! You mean.. We're.. We're going to live in London?'
'Yes dear,' Mum replied. 'We're sure you'll like London. Tom knows the headmaster of the boys' school in Ealing. We had dinner with him on Monday night, he's a very pleasant man. You'll be able to take your 'A' levels there, instead of at Ripley Grammar.'
Jenny gripped my hand, looked at her father. 'Daddy, I don't believe it. John and his parents will be living near us?'
'Yes Jenny. Ten minutes walk away. Isn't it terrible!' Uncle Tom chuckled. 'You'll be able to see John every day - if you want to, that is!'
Jenny clung to me, 'Oh John,' she sobbed, 'I'm so happy. Oh, isn't it fantastic.'
Stunned into silence, I held her tightly.
'Now we'll go and tell Bill and Jean,' smiled Auntie Helen, 'it'll give you two a little time alone together. I think you both need it.'
I nodded, unable to say a word.
Excerpt 2
'Look, John, we are not going out tonight as a foursome. Monique and Paddy can do what they want, and you and I will do what we want. It will be nice for us to be alone.'
'Oh, I thought you wanted someone else with us, you know, as a sort of chaperon or something.' My imagination engaged a higher gear.
Danielle ran her hand along the outside of my thigh, under the table. 'John, I'm twenty. It's 1966. Don't believe that French and Italian girls are slaves to the chaperon system. It's still there, but we know how to use it.'
'Do tell me,' I was intrigued.
'Like tonight, I am going out with you. Monique and Paddy will be with us. That suits our parents. But after five minutes, Monique and Paddy will go off on their own. You and I will go off together. That way, everybody is happy.'
'Oh, very good, I like it!' And I liked the way she continued to stroke my thigh.
Danielle grinned, 'I though you would! Now, I must go back to the office.' Her voice dropped to a conspirator's whisper, 'As I leave, shake my hand, don't kiss me. Monaco is full of gossips.'
'OK, and I think you're beautiful,' I whispered back.
She stood up. 'Thank you for lunch, it was very nice. Goodbye, John, I look forward to seeing you again.' She held out her hand, I shook it briefly, trying not to laugh.
'Goodbye Danielle.'
She walked to the edge of the pavement, her pert bottom swaying as she went along. Once again, the gendarme stopped the traffic and saluted, to be rewarded with a smile. She went up the hill, and round the corner, out of sight.
Excerpt 3
The following Tuesday, I drove Peter to Swindon. We were going to make sure that everything was OK at the depot. Peter also wanted to visit the Swindon branch of our bank, where Ted Moss had arranged for us to have paying-in facilities. When we entered Swindon, I turned the car towards the town centre.
'Here, you're going the wrong way,' said Peter. 'You should have turned right at the last junction.'
'No, it's OK. There's something I think you ought to see.'
'Oh yeah? What's that?' Peter asked, puzzled.
'Hang on a second. Yes, there they are.'
The pavements of the main street were crowded with lunchtime shoppers. Four very attractive girls, dressed in maroon sweaters and cream miniskirts were handing out brochures.
'Sheet!' Peter hissed. 'Look at those birds. Cor! One for you, and one for me! And a couple left over.'
'Are you going to get one of those things they're handing out?'
'Try and stop me,' Peter was out of the car in a flash.
He went up to the girls, one of them gave him a brochure. Peter glanced at it, then stared. He read it, his mouth agape with astonishment. It was hilarious to watch him, he was so taken aback. Neither Tom nor I had told him about the girls being used to promote the new depot. After a couple of minutes, I walked across to join him.
'John! Did you know about this?' he demanded.
'Yes, 'course I did. But I thought I'd keep quiet about it, just to see how you reacted to Tom's marketing work.'
'Bloody hell fire! It's brilliant,' Peter turned to the girls, 'and so are all of you.'
'Thank you. Are you two something to do with Suttons?' one of the girls asked, with a smile.
'Yes, we are,' I replied, 'I'm John Kersley, and this is Peter Brown. We're directors of the company.'
They introduced themselves. The busty blonde was Caroline, the well-stacked redhead was Tracey. The two brunettes were Janice and Molly.
'Fancy a drink?' Peter asked them.
'Oh no, we'd better not,' Caroline told us. 'Mr Crawford told us we must keep handing these out all lunchtime.'
'He's a spoil-sport,' Peter grumbled. 'Cheerio girls, we'd better get over to the office. Come on, John.'
Back in the car, Peter looked at me and laughed. 'Tom's a crafty one, isn't he? Fancy having smashing birds like that. Who interviewed them?'
'Tom did,' I replied. 'Got good taste, hasn't he?'
Peter chuckled. 'Did he have a casting couch, I wonder?'
We grinned at one another as we drove off to the depot.
Catalogue Information
