A Child from the Wishing Well

by Raymond Nickford

Raymond Nickford has a degree in Psychology and Philosophy from the University College of North Wales and has been both a lecturer and private tutor in Literature. Troubled souls; the outsider, the lonely, any driven to extremity, his inspiration. Author website and Meet the Author interview at : raymondnickford-psychologicalsuspense.weebly.com All other titles currently only 0.99. For details, click author photo in Biography section below. Gerard's wish is to break out of paranoia, discover daughter Rosie's love. Is the eerie music tutor Ruth's foul-smelling well a place where wishes happen? Ashamed he cannot relate to his daughter, Rosie, Gerard accompanies and stays with her for violin lessons at the home of tutor, Ruth Stein. Ruth, fascinating him for her musical sensitivity, becomes a confidante. Against his better judgement and his wife's reservations - the paranoid, Gerard, can only cling to believing the tutor can bring him closer to Rosie. Soon, he must wrestle with his suspicions again, for Ruth mothers Rosie, almost smothers... Reaching out to a broken doll, propped in the darkness at the bottom of Ruth's garden well, Gerard wants to believe that what he touches and smells is just the decay of sacks enfolding a doll; the closest to a child that the lonely old spinster could cling. Investigating, Gerard's fears for Rosie’s safety begin to mount. Rosie draws closer to her father, notices his new concern but, if she is in danger, can he save her and can Gerard still triumph over the emotional void of paranoia; feel, accept, he and Rosie could share the love of which others speak? TAGS ( for "A Child from the Wishing Well" ) : Paranoid father and daughter, poignant, violin tutor, eerie, German occupied Prague, tense, psychological suspense, literary OTHER TITLES "Aristo's Family," Set on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. A literary and psychological suspense. "Mister Kreasey's Demon," A gentle teacher haunted by his inner London toughened students - but loved by one. "Twists in the Tale," Eerie, atmospheric tales of the unexpected, tapping in to dysfunctional lives. Winner of the Harper Collins Gold Star award May 2010 : "A Child from the Wishing Well" A father suffering paranoia struggles against mental illness to reach out to his lonely daughter. REVIEWS : 'All the characters are built up so stealthily we fail to notice that odd behaviour could develop into obsession and dark foreboding secrets.' Daniel Manning – author of No Compatibility 'Taps into the psychological attributes of its characters.' T. L. Tyson – author of Seeking Eleanor ' Atmospheric, vibrant, spooky page-turner. ' Reay Tannahill - historian, novelist and author of The Seventh Son. 'Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, the first scary movie I remember seeing was the 1965 Bette Davis movie, The Nanny. To this day, that movie has always stuck with me as one of the great psychological thrillers of all time. For me, A Child from the Wishing Well, is reminiscent of that movie.' Candace Bowen Early - author of A Knight of Silence ' The sense of atmosphere and place developed is exquisitely detailed. ' Jack Hughes – author of Dawn of Shadows 'The author gives great voice to his characters, describing well their idiosyncrasies. A good story must either go deep or wide, and with Nickford's background in psychology he goes deep within the human condition. For some adults, the ability to relate to a child does not come naturally, and requires enormous if not awkward effort. This is an often overlooked subject worth exploring.' Stephen Valentine - author of Nobody Rides for Free ' Beautifully observed characters, atmospheric, intriguing. ' Barbara Erskine – author of River of Destiny

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 9, 2011

About the author

Raymond Nickford says that, to him, "people are stranger than fiction, more fascinating".

Perhaps this is what led to his degree in Psychology and Philosophy at University College North Wales. His teaching of English in colleges and as a private tutor has, he believes, informed his literary thriller "A Child from the Wishing Well" featuring an eerie music tutor, her young pupil Rosie and Rosie's paranoid and inept father, Gerard, who nevertheless yearns to mean more to her.

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Meet the author :

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"A Child from the Wishing Well" can also be bought or sampled in Kindle from
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This book was selected by Harper Collins for their top 5 Gold Star Award on Authonomy.com, May 2010.

Candace Bowen, author of A Knight of Silence, has written of A Child from the Wishing Well :

"Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, the first scary movie I remember seeing was the 1965 Bette Davis movie, The Nanny. To this day, that movie has always stuck with me as one of the great psychological thrillers of all time. For me, A Child from the Wishing Well, by Raymond Nickford, is reminiscent of that movie.

Ruth, the eerie music tutor, and Gerard strap you in, and take you on a psychological thrill-ride to the very end."

Though people may be stranger than fiction, still, souls – particularly troubled ones – have been indispensable for Raymond's novels, Aristo's Family, Mister Kreasey's Demon and Twists in the Tale.

All these titles can now be sampled or bought for under £1.50 as downloaded Kindle e-books at:

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If you don't have a kindle reader, you can now download a free kindle reader to sample e-books on amazon.co.uk using their KindleForPC or on amazon.com.

Nickford's genre, with hints of Hitchcock, is mainly psychological suspense with underlying romance, driven by his interest in "the outsider, the lonely and any driven to extremity".