SYLVIA KENT'S READING & WRITING FORUM: A LITTLE LIGHTHEARTED READING IN THESE STRESSFUL TIMES

In these worrying days, it's difficult to relax and walk a calm and steady path; so what better action than picking up a book that you guess - from glimpsing that colourful front cover - might hold a few chuckles along the way?

So many writerly friends have sent me copies of their current books to read and maybe review. However, I have my own quota of writing to do, but picked up my friend Dawn Knox's new creation THE BASILWADE CHRONICLES which started out in publishing life as a series of short stories.

Dawn is an amazing best-selling writer and you may have guessed that I am obviously a fan. Her clever descriptions of the folk included in her tales are brilliant, and her new book kicks off with her protagonist in her first story - the rather odd Derek Carruthers, a socially ineffectual chap who blunders his way through his first speed-dating session. No wonder - with an evening of rude comments offending every woman he has met during this disappointing evening, he eventually leaves the hall without a single date on his follow-up sheet. But then, how very naughty he has been during this, his first speed-dating gig. Somehow, though, he manages to meet, on the bus home, one of his earlier disappointing ladies, Mary Wilson. This character is Dawn's catalyst for the fruits of this clever imaginative collection of fascinating folk, all of whom play their vital part in her humorous book. There are lots of other funny folk in the author's line-up, some of whom the reader will find it hard to forget, including that daft vicar with a penchant for pickled onions, the would-be entrepreneur with an unhealthy inclination to bear a grudge and the elderly couple in the retirement home who were often found in the broom cupboard together.

I enjoyed reading this book and I'm sure you will, too!

Dawn's colourful book cover was created by artist Neill C Woods who initially read the manuscript and took notes about her characters within – their jobs, personalities, quirks and appearances, then he cleverly interpreted them. Once you have read the individual eighteen stories, try identifying the characters on Dawn's front cover.