H.D. Greaves

Barbara Nom de Plume

​ISBN 978-1500532215

 

    Isak Dinesen wrote about a friend that he “ate of the ripened heart of life.” This is a tale of two such people. One, an eccentric old woman, the other an embittered and lonely man, they meet, and a friendship develops that gives renewed hope to one and completely transcends the other.

    This story is true, with only the locations changed. Dear friends, I felt compelled to write about them, and what they show us of compassion, understanding, acceptance, forgiveness, and the wondrous quality of bliss.

 

 

LARGE PRINT EDITION

 

 

 

 

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The Tale of the Japanese Embassy's Most Esteemed Chef

ISBN-13: 978-1500599232

 

   ‘Akiro Maru did not look like a chef, far less a man of thirty. Thin, pale, and possessing a boy’s face, everyone mistook him to be no more than sixteen. Everyone mistook him in other ways as well . . . ’

    So begins this droll comedy of lust, deception, adultery, and an Ambassador’s obsessive desire for superb Japanese cuisine. It may leave you wondering just how high, really, is the cost for a pot of hot green tea and fresh conch sushi.

   Heartburn, or . . . ? The answer will astonish you.

 

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Turandot's Ukulele

ISBN-13: 978-1500547219

   Turandot’s Ukulele is an endearing story about a boy’s love for his aunt, an elderly spinster, who introduces him to grand opera at the Metropolitan. It also validates great music’s power to remove the stings of tragedy, transform the simplest lives, and inspire startling ideas.

    Fascinated by the Hawaiian ukulele, as well as loving Puccini’s Turandot, our young operagoer sees no reason why “the plinky-plunky splendour of the leaping flea” can’t be part of the Met’s huge orchestra, right in there with the loudest trumpets and the big Chinese gong.

    Told as a fond remembrance filled with droll humour and gentle wisdom, this is a tale for all ages and begs reading aloud.

 

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Cleopatrus Excaptivus

ISBN-13: 978-1500598648

 

   This tale poses a unique question: can catastrophe create sublime happiness?  Perhaps it might, but not without treacherous game playing from Cleopatra, a cat unabashedly beloved by its owner, but to all others a creature from hell.

     Truthfully based on real people, real events, and, yes, a very real cat, this story will touch your heart with laughter and is a pleasure to read aloud.

    First published in Camera Obscura (Vernal 2012 issue), a journal of quality fiction and photography, Cleopatrus Excaptivus  now proudly stands on its own four paws in this

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A Slight Contretemps

ISBN- 978-1500547943

    Throw together a successful British writer, his adoring wife, their two girls, a wealthy Grandmamma, one flamboyant Italian landlord, a gorgeous young woman, and a papa diavolo, and you have a concoction of romance, revenge, and murder, all played out under an innocently sunny Italian sky.   Not to worry, though.  After all, it’s nothing but A Slight Contretemps.  Or is it . . . ?

 

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Going Barefoot Into Paradise

ISBN-13: 978-1500548469

 

    In Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1950, the Klu Klux Klan held devious power over politicians and the police. In this vivid remembrance by an elderly lady, she reveals how, as a child, she and her mother were in mortal danger through the folly of a much-loved aunt. Through her eyes, we see the facile face of bigotry and its devastating effect on the living and the dead. Woven throughout the horror of lynchings and other murders, a thread of uncommon humanity, and even humour, anchors this surprising tale.

    And, should you think that this story rings true, you would be correct, because it is true, with only names changed for the sake of discretion.

 

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A Cuckoo's Lament

ISBN-13: 978-1500693039

 

   An exceedingly cockeyed cuckoo in a cuckoo clock strives to achieve the impossible. This ambitious bird desires nothing less than to, “FLY BEYOND THAT MIDNIGHT TWELVE,

TO FLY BEYOND INFINITY!”

    Appealing to children as well as adults, this gentle whimsy astonishes with its ideas while inciting our laughter. To tell more would spoil the story, which positively begs reading aloud.

 

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The Witch of Tabaquite

A Novella

ISBN-13: 978-1500522469

 

    On the Caribbean island of Arouca, Father Valencienne, young and idealistic, strives to enlighten what he perceives as ignorant natives; but a mysterious and beautiful woman, as well as the powerful forces of voodoo, the ancient religion brought by slaves from Africa, create doubt and confusion, profoundly intruding upon his faith and, ultimately, his life. With the safety of an entire village at stake, he must battle demons, lust, and above all, madness and murder.

 

LARGE PRINT EDITION