Martin Brown

The Last Goodbye Martin Brown

1976; the long, hot summer: clothes are getting skimpy, England's become continental. In Devon, where the drought is hardest, boy meets girl, boy shouldn't have met girl. Stella Drake, a farmer's daughter, living and working in London, decides against marrying Andrew, a Doctor. They fight and agree to a trial separation, which Stella thinks should be for good. Escaping to the family home, Drake's Farm, now a B&B, she begins to dismantle a wedding. She meets David, 18, escaping divorcing parents, exam results, and an ex-girlfriend. But Stella's haunted by her family history; decisions of ancestors are catching up, forcing her own decisions. One, by long-dead, great Uncle Zachary in the Great War, places such an obligation on Stella and her Aunt Bee, that an unsuitable marriage seems her only option. Shying away from the pressure, Stella takes up David's obvious offer of love. Under a relentless sun, they begin a secret love affair. But rain and retribution are coming. Nothing will be the same at summer's end.