My third romance novel, ‘Seasalter Serenade,’ follows the exploits of a forty-year-old widow and her seven-year-old daughter, who escape from an oppressive cult in Sussex and flee to the coast at Seasalter in Kent.
Part of the unfolding joy with writing this book came from the pair adapting to a world that is essentially foreign. More so for the little girl, bemused by materialism, the Internet, social media, and all the trappings of a youngster’s life in the modern west, which she’s grown up without to that point. There was a delicious contrast in comparing both lifestyles, and – cult control notwithstanding – pondering which was more dogmatic or hypnotising.
In the midst of it all, potential love interests appear for the mother, Karen Logan. Most notable is a carefree musician who lives and works at a holiday park near the beach. Including a simmering background tension over the cult wanting the daughter back helped pace the rising drama, which builds to a dramatic climax. I also dipped into personal experience, both from my former police career and global exposure to cults and cultic behaviour. Some readers may have a hard time swallowing certain scenes, or accepting the notion people allow themselves to be subjected to such abuse. Would that it were otherwise…
There’s a sense of the playful, in the form of a huge stray ginger tomcat called Mango Chutney. This perpetually hungry feline naturally has zero lines, and yet still manages to steal the story!
I hope new and existing readers will enjoy the tale, available in Kindle and Paperback formats from 31st March 2025.
John Eden 