Vanson Curse »

Although born in Cornwall, David grew up in the Georgian City of Bath. His love of books and literature began in the city's musty old post-war library and has never waned through the years. But it wasn't enough for him simply to read good stories, he wanted to write them. It became a compulsion.

The reality of having to support a wife and family put the compulsion on hold for some time, until David had an extended period off work as a result of illness. Unable to cope with inactivity, he bought himself a new typewriter and took over the dining room. With the idea of starting on something relatively straightforward, he wrote two romantic novels, which were published by Robert Hale under the pseudonym Tracy Davis. But romance was not his favourite genre and he was dissatisfied with those stories because they lacked grit and realism. Based upon his love of Cornish history, he began researching the lives of his ancestors with the idea of writing a series of realistic historical novels.

Distraction from that task came in the form of a one thousand-word short story entered for a competition. Spurred by the judge's comment that; "I really want to know what happened when Fayzella left the forest", he put aside his unfinished Cornish stories and spent the next year crafting A Tangle of Roots. It became a labour of love when pure fiction merged with stories he had encountered in real life. When the completed novel was hawked around the mainstream publishing houses it attracted very favourable comments from senior editors but was rejected because it did not firmly fit into a single genre. That was when David approached BeWrite Books.

Restless in his younger days, David worked in many parts of the UK. Three years as an aerodrome manager on a remote Hebridean island honed his love of rural scenery. Nowadays, he finds walking through the more remote parts of the English countryside a perfect way of letting his mind relax sufficient to dream up story plots.

Now settled in Dorset, David lives with his wife, Fionnuala, near the south coast where they have been able to indulge their passion for walking and canoeing. They have two sons living in the UK and a daughter who has relocated to Canada to work as an air traffic controller.

Kit Vanson - sickened by his father's and then by his brother's evil abuse of their helpless field hands - flees back home to his roots on his late grandfather's sleepy Cornish farm to find peace of mind. But he carries with him a burden of crushing guilt. And when he tries to atone for the family sins, he discovers that the Vanson Curse has followed him across the ocean.

Janine Pulford

David Hough draws his settings well and animates his characters in such fine detail that they spring to life. The plot twists and turns as the hero and heroine are separated - but will they come together again? A compelling story, heaped with historical detail and romance.