Books by Alan Kennedy

First published in 1930, Swallows and Amazons secured Arthur Ransome's reputation as one of the most influential children's authors of all time, yet prior to writing fiction he had had a turbulent career as a journalist and war correspondent in revolutionary Russia. In this refreshing account of Ransome's work, Alan Kennedy sets out to explain his enduring appeal, combining literary criticism with psychological expertise. Not only did Ransome apply a careful narrative theory to his works, his use of symbolism aligning them more with the modernist tradition than with the event-driven children's literature of contemporaries such as Richmal Crompton and Enid Blyton, but his novels are also more than usually autobiographical. This Kennedy ably demonstrates with reference to three particular challenges Ransome faced in a seriously conflicted life: his father's untimely death, his abandonment of his infant daughter in order to escape his catastrophic first marriage, and the innumerable compromises that kept him alive during his Russian exile. A Thoroughly Mischievous Person: The Other Arthur Ransome is the first study to tackle this matter systematically, giving casual and scholarly readers alike new insights into this fascinating figure.

""It will all have gone. Erased. Forgotten. Like throwing letters in the fire.""The completion of Alan Kennedy's WW2 trilogy takes up the story one year after the events of A Time to Tell Lies. Following the disastrous visit to John Cabot in Oxford, Justine has vanished. Alex, posted to a Spy School in Scotland, finds life a kind of benign imprisonment. The Things That Are Lost chronicles the efforts of these two played-out SOE agents to rediscover each other. Set against the backdrop of the liberation of Paris in August 1944, they are aided by Madeleine, a woman haunted by the war-time compromises that have kept her alive. A love story exploring one of the most shocking secrets of the City of Light under German occupation. A secret so disturbing that, even now, Paris has decided it is best forgotten.

Lucy is a painter. She has everything: fame, money and reputation. She also has Oscar. At least, he has always been there. One fine day, she will do something about that. It was, as she says, hardly a love affair, more a kind of marriage. Perhaps, even war-torn France is safe enough on the Oscar front. But Lucy is deceiving herself. Set before and after the second world war in London, Edinburgh, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Dundee and a remote village in war-time France, two painters struggle to come to terms with the casual brutality of war. A love story. Alan Kennedy's fourth novel - a masterly account of love, loss and reconciliation. "A haunting and captivating love story. A skilfully articulated plot which holds the reader from start to finish. The exploration of the young artist's creative imagination as she struggles to come to terms with the banal horrors of war and her own engulfing emotions." Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director, Courtauld Institute of Art.

The Broken Bell, the second book in Alan Kennedy's Boat in the Bay trilogy. When he arranges a surprise holiday for the children Uncle Albert imagines he can look after them well enough. But before this story ends he is the one who needs looking after. Set on a remote island off the coast of southern France, an idyllic holiday gradually becomes a terrifying race against time, building to a dramatic climax. The Broken Bell also gives us the first glimpse of Poppy the painter, hardly aware of her own incredible talent, torn between the magic world of art and artists and her life with the others. But the hero of this book is the youngest of all. Ian never completely understands what is going on, but he is the one who finally discovers the secret of the broken bell. For readers of any age. "The writing is assured ... the implied reminders of the Swallows and Amazons series again add another dimension and are a delight" - Julian Lovelock, The Journal of the Arthur Ransome Society.

The final book in a trilogy which includes The Boat in the Bay and The Broken Bell. The Pink House finds the children growing apart. Poppy must chose between painting and adventure as the others discover a lost lake in a secret valley. The decision to stay behind and begin her first painting changes her life for ever as, too late, she discovers the dreadful consequence of their discovery. Set in the South of France between the wars, the action is seen through the eyes of children confronting an adult world they never quite understand. At one level an adventure story, at another, a spellbinding account of a child's first steps in the dark world of art and artists. A book about the power of art that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.