Shakespeare’s Clock: A Novel About Girls in a Line.

A Gritty Past Leaves Deep Scars on Three Tormented Souls Out for Revenge.

‘Shakespeare’s Clock’ by award-winning author Jan Moran Neil sees three women stuck in their 1960’s schoolgirl past. Only by facing up to the truth and revealing their stories can they move the stubborn hands of the clock forward. Two decades later, one seeks to set things right; to regain her dignity and reap revenge on those who took it from her.

While the Swinging Sixties lay far behind, the troubled minds of three women hit breaking point when they are forced to take stock of their lives in the 1980s. In order to move the hands of the clock forward they need to reveal to each other the truth of what happened when they were sixteen years old.

‘Shakespeare’s Clock’ Blurb by Jan Moran Neil:

It’s 1984. Patricia Vickers returns like a phantom to deliver an unwelcome revelation. Jayne Thornhill is reminded of those spiteful 1960s’ schooldays: bullying, Charlie the skeleton, séances, strip poker and sexual encounters with the school’s handymen. Jayne’s confessions have now been whitewashed from lavatory walls, only to be unearthed in a third school friend’s 1969 diary. A cloud of sadness is now cast over the three women’s lives and only by revealing their own stories in later life can they move the stubborn hand of the undertaker’s clock forward. In doing so, something shockingly out of line is revealed …

In the author’s own words:

“Teenage bullying has an impact on the rest of life’s journey. If, with one blow, you could destroy all the people you hate, would you? If you could keep silent and have glory reigned upon you, would you? If you could exact revenge on your tormentor, would you? Three women did.”

About the author:

Jan Moran Neil was trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and

Drama and the National Youth Theatre. She spent many years in the

professional theatre before forming Creative Ink for Writers and Actors. Her plays have been performed on the London Fringe, Guga S’Thebe Theatre, Langa and Masambe Theatre, Baxter, Cape Town. Jan’s short story and poetry collections include the award-winning ‘Death

by Pythagoras’ for BBC Writers and broadcast on Radio 4 and her winning sonnet ‘Silver Surfing’ at Bloomsbury Publishing, which was also

republished by the Royal Society of Literature, as well as other highly

commended poems.

Jan has a Masters’ degree in Creative Writing from the University of

Cambridge. She is available for readings from her collections and novels. Signed copies of her new book are available from Jan. Readings available also (50 mins plus a Q&A session).

Her website is at: www.janmoranneil.co.uk