Gideon Jones
Grey Stones: Grave Secrets
A deserter hiding his past. A teacher desperate to discover hers. Secrets hidden in graves.
​
It is 1966, and Grace Connolly has returned to Keswick to bury her mother. Reunited with her Lakeland roots, she secures a teaching post at Grey Stones, a boarding school on the banks of Derwentwater. Among her mother’s belongings, Grace finds a photograph of Michael Edwards, a former headmaster of the school, whom she suspects is the father she never knew. Searching for answers, Grace is assisted by a
colleague, Robert Cole, who informs her that Michael Edwards was murdered in 1941.
Shocked by this revelation and frustrated by a dearth of information, Grace enlists the assistance of three Fourth-Formers, Mark Peck, Anthony Letts-Hyde, and Jimmy Johnston, who agree to research the former head.
Hampered by a vicious bullying campaign orchestrated by Fifth-Former Eric Lunt, the boys, aided by fellow pupils Emily Burton and school misfit Margaret Arbuckle, uncover a mystery that threatens to destroy the reputations of two heroes of the First World War.
As the narrative alternates between past and present, a history of murder, desertion, blackmail and intrigue dating back to the trenches of 1918 is revealed.
Confronted by racism, intimidation, and the threat of expulsion, the friends stick to their task. But can their conclusions be trusted, and if so, should history be rewritten?
Subscribe to Gideon's mailing list
About the Author
Gideon Jones is a practising barrister based in the North West of England. Grey Stones: Grave Secrets is set in a mixed boarding school in the Lake District. After twenty-five years at the bar, Gideon’s ambition is to become a full-time author.
Grey Stones Genesis
The eldest of six children, I was raised in the Walton area of Liverpool. Having produced their brood by the time they were just twenty-eight, my parents, keen to keep their sanity, enforced a regime of early bedtimes, which continued to be the norm as we grew older. At the age of eleven, I found being stuck in a bedroom with my younger twin brothers, sunshine penetrating the drawn curtains, to be a hugely frustrating experience. So, rather than stare at the ceiling, I would tell the twins a story… a 'Mark, Anthony and Jimmy' story.
Mark, Anthony and Jimmy were friends attending a boarding school in the 1960s. Sticking together through thick and thin, they routed the bullies, ran rings around their schoolmasters, indulged in midnight feasts and regularly turned defeat into victory. Sound familiar? Well, it should. Whether or not I knew it, I was obviously influenced by those bastions of public school escapism, Greyfriars and Greytowers: the former the home of Billy Bunter, the latter, inspired by the former, the playground of Winker Watson of The Dandy.
I told these stories for years, and my brothers never forgot them. When the time came to attempt a novel, the sentimental temptation to resurrect old friends proved irresistible. Mark Peck, Anthony Letts-Hyde and Jimmy Johnston were back. The name of their school? In recognition of the influence exerted by Greyfriars and Greytowers, it had to be 'Grey' something, so 'Grey Stones' it was. A mixed school catering for boarders and day pupils, Grey Stones is located on the banks of Derwentwater in the Lake District. Pupils Margaret Arbuckle and Emily Burton play pivotal roles in the unfolding plot. But gone now are the high jinks of yesteryear, the midnight feasts and the jolly japes. Serious themes are explored: racism, bullying, friendship, loyalty, betrayal and guilt, hopefully, underpinned by an entertaining plot and a surprising denoument. This novel is aimed at teenagers and adults alike.
A word about Jimmy: Jimmy is an ordinary boy from Liverpool whose upwardly mobile parents are intent on 'looking after his education'. Thrust into an alien environment, Jimmy adapts to his situation and succeeds in making friends. Although his presence feeds the intolerance of some, the politics of class is not one of the novel's themes. Jimmy is no working-class foil: he has a sense of humour but is not a comedian; he has a sense of injustice but is not a crusader; he holds the courage of his convictions but is not a table thumper; and, although he stands steadfastly by his friends, he is not particularly tough. The characteristics attributed to Jimmy are equally evident in the personalities of his new friends. Jimmy could be a boy from any city, not just Liverpool.
And finally, a word about the historical content of the novel. References to events during and after the First World War are all factually based. The Battle of Carnforth Hill is based on the Battle of Manchester Hill, fought during the German offensive of March 1918. The Calais mutiny of early 1919 actually happened. Private John Pantling did exist.
For those of you who go on to purchase the novel, please accept my thanks. And please consider leaving a review. All input is welcome and will feed into the second book in the series, which is now in the pipeline.
Gideon Jones.