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\u201cWhen my son was smaller, he\u2019s now ten, he used to enjoy playing with my bracelet and I told him where each of the charms came from,\u201d says The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper author Phaedra Patrick. \u201cA friend had sadly passed away and I started to think of a story about Arthur Pepper, an elderly man who discovers a mysterious charm bracelet in his late wife, Miriam\u2019s, wardrobe. He sets off on an epic journey to find out the story behind each of the charms.\u201d<\/p>\n
A charm bracelet is the catalyst that sets Arthur on an adventure to learn about his wife and himself. The journey that Arthur goes on is cathartic, will take him out of his comfort zone. Ultimately, it\u2019s healing for him and those around him, a story of personal growth. The charms are the charms from his wife\u2019s bracelet and the hidden charms of Arthur, qualities that he didn\u2019t know he had. This is the first novel by Patrick. Looking forward to more from this author.<\/p>\n
Arthur Pepper lost his wife a year ago. He\u2019s a person of routine. He gets up in the morning at the same time. He wears the same clothing he\u2019s worn for most of his life. When his wife died he did take over watering her plant. Today is the anniversary of her death. As he\u2019s going through his late wife\u2019s things he finds a gold charm bracelet hidden in the toe of a boot. It stops him. Arthur has never seen his wife wear it. Who gave it to her? Why did she hide it? What does he not know about his wife?<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew from a very young age that writing was something I wanted to do,\u201d says Patrick. \u201cSo I just kept on going. This book was the first one that I wrote for myself, from the heart, without trying to guess what I thought the market and publishers might want.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to write what I know,\u201d says Patrick. \u201cSo apart from some checking out of travel details, for example how long it might to take to get from one place to another, I did very little. Arthur leaves his home in York, UK, to travel to London, Paris and India. I have been to each of those places.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick did her research on the Internet. \u201cI wish it had been around when I was smaller as I might have become a writer much sooner with all the fantastic information available out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erika Imranyi at Mira is Patrick\u2019s U.S. editor. \u201cVery supportive and collaborative,\u201d says Patrick. \u201cThe only tricky part of the process was when I received edits from the U.S. and UK simultaneously…to keep track of them both, in one manuscript. My U.S. and UK editors worked together to produce one set of edits for me, which were really insightful.<\/p>\n
Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson, Literary, Film and TV Agency in London, UK, is Patrick\u2019s agent. \u201cI won a short story competition with them a few years ago,\u201d says Patrick. \u201cSo when I was looking for an agency I approached them, alongside others. Four out of the five agents I submitted to asked to read the full manuscript. However, I was impressed by Clare\u2019s speed of response, her passion for the book and her honesty. The agency also represents great authors, such as Lee Child.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is being published in nineteen countries, with seventeen translations.<\/p>\n
Patrick is currently finishing her next book. Again the protagonist is a male character who undergoes a transformation in his life.<\/p>\n
Patrick lives in Saddleworth, UK, about twelve miles from Manchester. She was born in Oldham.<\/p>\n
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The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick. Hardcover: 336 pages, Publisher: MIRA (May 3, 2016), Language: English, ISBN: 978-0778319337 $ 24.99<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exclusive interview with author Phaedra Patrick and a review of her book about a man who learns from his wife\u2019s life Rating: 4 Stars By […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-book-corner"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19409"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19412,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19409\/revisions\/19412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.british-weekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}