Carol Naylor's REVIEW it...

         The Casual Vacancy by J.K.Rowling. " We are the guardians of something unique. We are the custodians and the stewards of a shining principle. We do not turn our backs and look away from people in need." The tv drama was written by Sarah Phelps and produced by Ruth Kenley-Letts. Rowling herself was one of four executive producers. Set in what seems an idyllic setting, fictional Pagford turns out to be a village divided between the privileged do-gooders, the hypocrites in society with the trappings of middle-class affluence compared to the working class and their dodgy deals and drug abuse living in the Fields, a council estate on the doorstep of middle England. It might be said that Phelps and Rowling share a passion for social justice which is a myth in "The Casual Vacancy." Don't expect any. The story is heart-breaking. Phelps rewrote the ending which was bleak and too devastating for words. She went in search of a redemptive moment after t

                     Tess and Tattoos by H.A.Leuschel. Getting up in the morning " meant facing the same inevitable truth-that all she was really waiting for was death to make its appearance and that, when it did eventually happen, she'd not even know. Dead was dead." This short story is taken from "Manipulated Lives" a collection of five stories but it can be purchased as an ebook on its own. It's the story of Tess, an 82 year old, living in a serviced apartment for the elderly for three years, sadly waiting to die like many others. The setting provides a degree of tranquility and beauty for the elderly, frail occupants. It is Autumn, symbolic of the end of summer and everything it represents moving towards winter, reflecting the sad tone of a life coming to an end. Home is an attractive 3 storey, red-brick house built to outlast its occupants with "weathered faces and aching bones." We experience the wind howling as someone plays the