PASSING BY: A WORCESTERSHIRE CHILDHOOD - AND BEYOND. (1945-1985)

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Kerry Tombs, author of the popular Ravenscroft series of crime novels, mainly set in Victorian Worcestershire, was born in the Black Country town of Smethwick in 1945, just before the end of the 2nd World War.
In this highly personal, and often entertaining memoir, he describes what life was like growing up in north Worcestershire in the 1950's, a time when his parents renovated a number of old cottages in rural villages, centered around the old market town of Bromsgrove, before becoming antique dealers - and during which he encountered a number of interesting, and often eccentric characters along the way, each of whom had his, or her, own uniquely amusing or tragic story to tell.
After surviving five different primary schools and two unusual private secondary schools, Kerry found himself becoming a teacher in the world of progressive 1960's education, an occupation which was to take him across several continents including Australia and Siberia, countries which he describes in graphic detail.
The book also offers amusing insights into the worlds of The British Drama League and local Hospital Radio, and includes his difficult attempts at starting an English Music Festival in Cirencester in the 1970's.
Underlining this book however is the author's close relationship with his mother, and the gradual revealing over the years of the dark secret concerning his own birth.
The book ends in 1985, the year which was to see momentous changes in the author's life.
This book will appeal not only to those readers who have enjoyed Kerry's crime novels and would like to know more about the author, but also those readers who are interested in the social history of Bromsgrove and the rural villages of Worcestershire in the 1950's.