Paper Dreams

Phyllis J. Burton

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Why I wrote this book

Why did I write PAPER DREAMS?   It started with a seed (the thought of lost letters and love) and suddenly I had the makings of a of a rather good story.  I have always had an insatiable appetite for reading and I tend to panic if I cannot find a book to read. My preferences range from Jane Austen, Daphne Du Maurier, Catherine Gaskin to Sophie Kinsella,  Jodi Picoult and Dan Brown, amongst many others.   And so I suppose they have all inspired me to write. PAPER DREAMS is an unusual read, which plays with the reader’s emotions.  It covers family sorrow, obsessions, inheritance, greed, dreams, nightmares, and attempted murder.  But above all, it is a story of people’s lives, their loves and how they eventually overcome adversity. I firmly believe that anyone who enjoys a mystery with a dark thrill or two thrown in for good measure, will enjoy all the twists and turns hidden within this story.   How Katie deals with the sadness in her life and how Fate intervenes, makes this story a real page-turner.

Synopsis

Take a recipe for disaster...Start with an illicit love affair in 1952, add a painful parting and three deaths in 1953. Leave to settle until 2009. Then add a crumbling mansion (Epton Hall), which harbours a scandalous secret...Gradually combine young librarian Katie Nicholson - an incurable romantic trying to get over a failed love affair. Sprinkle a few daydreams, hundreds of books and stir until well mixed. Carefully blend in a friendly housekeeper, some memorabilia and many books, with Katie's weekend away, new boyfriend and a prophetic dream. Add the secret arrival of sinister nephew Harold Hapsworth-Cole, the only known heir to the estate, and throw in the evidence discovered by Katie in the attic, that another heir exists in Canada. Combine fear, violence, and theft of that evidence with Katie's imprisonment in the attic, Harold's growing mental instability and stir...malevolently. The resultant mixture should be an explosion of love, financial expectations, inheritance, terror, greed and attempted murder. Then...ENJOY. Paper Dreams is an unusual read, which plays with the reader's emotions. It covers family sorrow, obsessions, inheritance, greed, dreams, nightmares, and attempted murder. But above all, it is a story of people's lives, their loves and how they eventually overcome adversity.

Reviews

Margaret Anthony – Authonomy:
“Your pitch tells of a complex plot but from what I’ve read, your confident story telling supports it well.  I’m a fan of prologues and this one worked for me.   There is a skill in your writing which creates the right atmosphere and it was easy to imagine being on the dock as the liner sailed. There was nothing to stumble over, your pace is good and your writing flows.   Seamless throughout is the sense of intrigue and that begs the reader to keep following the story. Here indeed, is a good thriller in the making…”

John Breeden – Authonomy:
“Paper Dreams promises to be a riveting mystery…  It features completely ordinary people who are thrust into extraordinary but believable circumstances.  The story-telling skills of author Phyllis Burton are on display for all to see.   Readers will really begin to care for main character Katie Nicholson as she is hired to use her librarian skills to catalogue a valuable book collection left behind in a mysterious old mansion.  The fact that you can get easily hooked right from the start shows the skill of the author.  Paper Dreams is quite cleverly written and should find a wide audience…”
                    
Julia Bodie (Copy Editor)
“Paper Dreams is a romantic thriller which holds the reader’s interest from the very beginning. The characters are well-rounded, believable and ‘human’ and I found myself hating Harold, the villain of the story who is portrayed as quite mad and obviously battling with internal demons and empathising and sympathising with the main character Katie. There are several other characters in the book that I was really drawn to. There is intrigue, evil, romance and together these add up to a novel that is hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone interested in this type of fiction.”

Mrs. Ann C. Storton (on Amazon)
“Having really enjoyed the author’s previous book, I wondered whether this (PAPER DREAMS) would be as good – and it was! I love happy endings.”

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