From the high seas to the streets of east London, Walthamstow-born author Michael Douglas Bosc has brought adventure, romance and gangland crime to the pages of his two recently-released novels, A Soldier‘s Wind and A Loving Son.

A Soldier‘s Wind is set more than 200 years ago, as Michael explains.

“It tells the story of Jason, a midshipman who‘s due to come into a very large inheritance. He was sent to sea by his uncle and aunt in the hope he would get killed, so all the inheritance would go to them.“

The story follows the sailor from his recovery from wounds in London to his appointment to a ship bound for Jamaica. On the way his senior officer is killed and he has to take command, and on arrival in Jamaica, he is appointed to a schooner as a lieutenant.

“Jason sets up a mistress, then he gets married, but his wife and his mistress enter a relationship with each other when he goes off to sea,“ adds Michael.

“Anywhere Britain had colonies, this is how people carried on. A lot of sailors at the time used to ‘roam‘. It was quite common for wealthy officers at the time in Jamaica to set up mistresses.“

Michael, who himself has learnt to sail, says he has always enjoyed reading books such as the Hornblower series. However, he was born far from the coast in Walthamstow, at 75 Longfellow Road, which he says is now “not as long as it was“. These days Michael lives in Spain, but still has family in east London.

His second book, A Loving Son, is set in the post-war years, around areas including Forest Gate, Stratford and Romford. It tells the story of Stanley, who has been brought up by his mother, a prostitute.

Michael says there are strong gangland elements, including how the relationships between police, government and criminals were a lot closer in those days.

“It‘s mixing the social elements of the time, like walking through the fog and trolley buses, and how the Government and powerful people could make things happen and weren‘t necessarily answerable to the law.

“Stanley has the view that his mother‘s a prostitute and doesn‘t see anything wrong with prostitution. It‘s just a job.

“It‘s also inferred she was also made to do some work for the government in the war – like an assassin. Stanley becomes his mother‘s protector. He kills a number of people throughout the book.

“Also, Stanley has a girlfriend, Gillian, who ends up getting pregnant by someone else and ends up getting thrown out by her father. Stanley‘s mother takes her in and arranges an abortion and eventually Gillian becomes a prostitute.“

A Soldier‘s Wind and A Loving Son are published by AuthorHouse: www.authorhouse.co.uk