The Glittering Scorpion - Paperback

by Gerry Haines (Author)

Sally comes from a comfortable, supportive family background in Surrey, and is reacting against it. She may have strong views and a fiery spirit, but why is she under surveillance? It's easier to see why her lover Jem is being watched. His roots are working class and he's a communist, dreaming of revolution,

In 1970, Sally gets a teaching assistant job for a year at a university in Illinois, a campus that the Vietnam War has filled with angry demonstrators. Sally doesn't just watch events unfold, she lends a hand, until she has to leave the area in a hurry because the authorities want to scapegoat her. She collects newly-arrived Jem and they set off across a turbulent USA.

In California they both enjoy good times and Sally sings and plays with a band. When they set off for home, she endures a dreadful event that haunts her for decades. Back home, can Sally hold on to Jem and escape her demons?

It's the police Jem needs to escape from - and eventually the IRA. He has been imprisoned for something he didn't do, and he emerges tougher, embittered and increasingly violent in his encounters with the police. His is a life under surveillance and on the run.

But Sally too is being watched. She is hounded out of two teaching jobs and she endures more turmoil and scrutiny when she joins the Greenham peace camp. It is only a chance encounter several years later that profoundly reshapes her life and her identity.

This is a story of suspense and surprises. It is an account of how a young woman suffers and matures en route to finding herself.