In Exile, and Other Stories

On a sun‑scorched hill overlooking a dusty Californian mining valley, a stout thirteen‑year‑old Cornish boy named Nicky leads a young schoolmistress down winding footpaths to a hidden spring. Their trek through poison‑oak, wild‑rose and shaded canyons captures the stark beauty of a frontier landscape, while the simple curiosity about fresh water hints at deeper questions of belonging and survival.

The story opens a collection that gathers vivid, self‑contained sketches of lives on the edge of civilization—miners, women, children, and the land itself. Each tale balances quiet observation with moments of quiet wonder, revealing how ordinary encounters can echo larger themes of exile, perseverance, and the fragile hope that springs from unexpected places. Listeners will be drawn into a world where every rustle of leaves and splash of spring water carries the weight of personal histories waiting to be heard.