Boy Off The Bank

First book of the Michael Baker series, A Boy Off The Bank tells a story of England's canals in wartime, of the pressure and pain, the humour and resilience of the boating people. Both tragic and heart-warming, it charts the progress of an arduous and difficult job against the broader panorama of worldwide events, seen from a narrowboat's back cabin through the eyes of a young boy:

Ten-year-old Michael has had enough - mentally and physically abused by his drunken father, treated as a skivvy by his hard-pressed mother, he's taken all that his miserable life can throw at him. The final blow falls when his pet dog is taken away as well; on a January night in 1940 he sets out to commit suicide. But all does not go according to plan...

Autorentext
S G Miles (Geoffrey Lewis) was born in Oxford in 1947. educated at the City High School and Hatfield University, he has followed a varied career including spells as a research chemist, professional photographer, security guard and parts specialist in the motor trade. After eight years as owner and captain of a canal-based passenger boat, he is now retired and concentrating upon writing.After a childhood spent close to the Oxford Canal, his love of the waterways led him to live aboard a narrowboat for sixteen years. Now back on dry land, he lives in Milton Keynes, but is now deeply involved with a charity which owns and operates a pair of historic ex-cargo boats based at Braunston on the Grand Union Canal.Photographer, Bell-ringer and American car enthusiast, he is currently engaged upon a number of new writing projects including a children's fantasy trilogy, collections of short stories and of course more tales set on England's canals.