Front Page Fridays Week-33
Welcome to Front Page Fridays Week-33. On Fridays I showcase the first page of a brand-new book.
My Front Page Fridays Week-33 guest is Madalyn Morgan and her brand-new historical novel, Tribute.
Here’s the opening page:
TRIBUTE
Chapter One
1970
Ena opened the door. The lights went out and an air raid siren began to wail. As she stumbled into the darkness, searchlights criss-crossed overhead, probing the night sky for enemy planes, and her ears were assaulted by the sound of Ack-Ack guns that were soon drowned out by the mechanical drone of Messerschmitts and Junkers.
During the war there were no streetlights, and people’s homes were shrouded by thick black-out blinds, pulled down or across in advance of regular curtains being drawn at dusk, but the moon shone on the Thames, illuminating it like a beacon to guide the German Air Force into the heart of London and beyond.
Ena shivered as she remembered the Coventry Blitz. The engineering factory in Lowarth, where she had worked, was twelve miles south of the city, and on November 14th 1940, the day of the most devastating attack on Coventry, a stray bomb had fallen on the factory’s boundary wall, exploding on impact and destroying part of the building. Fortunately, it was the only bomb to go astray.
The following day, Ena’s boss asked her to take vital equipment to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, and while travelling on the 9:45 train to Bletchley, Ena had been drugged, and the top-secret disks and dials she was charged with delivering to Britain’s top code-breaking centre were stolen. A feeling of terror ran through her as she remembered the danger she had been in. Under suspicion by those she was trying to help, she didn’t know who to trust. Haunted by the robbery and the possibility she had been betrayed, and with her closest friends accused of being involved, she had begun her own investigation to prove her innocence.
The sounds of war echoed in her head and she put her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. It had been twenty-five years since the Second World War ended, yet the memories and her fear of the Blitz had never left her, had never left anyone who had lived through that terrifying time.
‘Ena?’
Someone was tugging her arm. She took her hands from her ears and opened her eyes to see her friend Natalie Goldman, the owner of the Prince Albert Theatre, by her side. At that moment, the deafening sounds of war stopped and the house lights came on, illuminating the theatre’s auditorium. The stage curtains began to open, and the show’s director, Connor Wolf, jumped up from his seat and jogged down the centre aisle.
Taking the steps at the side of the orchestra pit two at a time, he shouted from the apron, ‘Thank you, Sound! That’s more like the level. What did you think, Joe?’
Joe Singer, the stage manager, appeared from the wings, stage right, and put up his thumb. ‘Sounded good to me.’
About the Book
London 1970…
TRIBUTE: A Bittersweet Celebration
The newly restored Young Albert Theatre in Whitechapel is about to open. The project’s benefactors want to give the young, underprivileged men and women in London’s East End a chance to fulfil their potential through music and drama.
Its debut musical, Tribute, celebrates the life of Margot Dudley, her work with ENSA, and her rise to fame in The Prince Albert Theatre on the Strand during the Blitz in World War II.
Two weeks before opening night, the sound system is stolen. While Natalie Goldman, part-owner of the Young Albert, organises a charity event to raise money to replace the system, Ena Green, nee Dudley, who is already investigating anonymous threats against one of the theatre’s staff, investigates the theft.
Can a catastrophic act that could cost the lives of six hundred people be stopped in time?
TRIBUTE was independently published. I wanted to release Tribute between the anniversaries of VE Day, May 1945 and VJ Day, August 1945. Also, I had writer’s block for eight months in 2024. Because of that, Tribute is, and always will be, important to me.
Purchase Link
Tribute: A Bittersweet Celebration eBook : Morgan, Madalyn : Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
About the Author
Madalyn was brought up in a busy pub in a market town called Lutterworth. From a small child, she wanted to be an actress. She was offered a television role when she was fifteen, but her mother said she should have a 'proper' job, so she did a hairdressing apprenticeship instead. Eight years later, at twenty-four, she won a place at East 15 Drama College. Two years later, she sold two successful businesses and began a career as an actress, working in Repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. In 2000, she gave up acting, completed a two-year college course and began writing articles while presenting a music show on radio.
In 2010, after living in London for thirty-six years, Madalyn returned to Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage for a garden and the freedom to write. Since then, she has written a series of ten novels. The first four books, set in World War II, introduce the Dudley sisters. Four post-war books followed, then three crime/spy thrillers take the Dudley sisters to 1970. Each story stands alone with links to the other stories. Madalyn has written a collection of short stories, poetry and prose called Scenes from My Life. She is writing her next novel, Reunion, and making notes to write her memoir.
Website and Social media links
Website: www.madalynmorgan.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madalyn.morgan1
Twitter: Madalyn Morgan (@ActScribblerDJ) / X
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madalynmorgan1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madalyn-morgan-b27317b
Bluesky: Madalyn Morgan (@madalymorgan.bsky.social)
Books by Madalyn Morgan with links
Foxden Acres: https://geni.us/23-Storm
Destiny: https://geni.us/23-Storm
Betrayal: https://geni.us/25-Storm
Redemption: https://geni.us/26-Storm
Legacy: https://geni.us/27-po-fbo-am
Reckoning: https://geni.us/236-Storm
Confessions: https://geni.us/242-Storm
Secrets: https://geni.us/248-Storm
Obsessions: https://geni.us/263-al-aut-ch
Justice: https://geni.us/269-al-aut-ch
Tribute: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FCM5WZG9/
Scenes From My Life: www.amazon.co.uk/Scenes-My-Life/dp/B0DBY81X7P
I hope you enjoyed reading Front Page Fridays Week-33. Please come back next time when I’ll be featuring a different author and the first page of their book.
And please take a look at books already featured on Front Page Fridays:
1. Blood Ribbons by Lin Le Versha – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-1/
2. Fatal Blow by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-2/
3. Can I Trust You? by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-3 – Rachel Sargeant
4. The Last Bird of Paradise by AJ Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-4 – Rachel Sargeant
5. Never Forgive You by Hilly Barmby – Front Page Fridays Week-5 – Rachel Sargeant
6. The Mists of Pencarrack Moor by Terri Nixon – Front Page Fridays Week-6 - Rachel Sargeant
7. The Thief of Joy by Stacey Murray – Front Page Fridays Week-7 - Rachel Sargeant
8. Edge of the Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake – Front Page Fridays Week-8 - Rachel Sargeant
9. The Mind of a Murderer by Michael Wood - https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-9/
10. The Midnight Man by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-10 - Rachel Sargeant
11. Dark Road Home by Sheila Bugler – Front Page Fridays Week-11 - Rachel Sargeant
12. Her Charming Man by Rachel Sargeant – Front Page Fridays Week-12 - Rachel Sargeant
13. Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel by Linda Huber – Front Page Fridays Week-13 - Rachel Sargeant
14. Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey – Front Page Fridays Week-14 - Rachel Sargeant
15. The Shame by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-15 - Rachel Sargeant
16. Dead Mile by Jo Furniss – Front Page Fridays Week-16 — Rachel Sargeant
17. The Violin and Candlestick by David Jarvis – Front Page Fridays Week-17 — Rachel Sargeant
18. New Memories by S.E. Shepherd – Front Page Fridays Week-18 — Rachel Sargeant
19. Young Blood by Victoria Gemmell – Front Page Fridays Week-19 — Rachel Sargeant
20. Private Investigations by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-20 — Rachel Sargeant
21. The Car Horn revolution by A.J. Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-21 — Rachel Sargeant
22. What Lies Beneath by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-22 — Rachel Sargeant
23. A Safe Place by Stephanie Carty – Front Page Fridays Week-23 — Rachel Sargeant
24. Fatal Image by Brian Price – Front Page Fridays Week-24 — Rachel Sargeant
25. Run For Your Lies by A.A. Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-25 — Rachel Sargeant
26. A Walk in the Park by Natalie Kleinman – Front Page Fridays Week-26 — Rachel Sargeant
27. A Storm in a Teacup by Rachael Gray – Front Page Fridays Week-27 — Rachel Sargeant
28. The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-28
29. A Death in the Afternoon by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-29 — Rachel Sargeant
30. Justice by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-30 — Rachel Sargeant
31. Let Me Out by Amanada Brittany – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-31
32. A Pocketful of Poisons by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/85orb6bc15cs2voyn37yv3jprw0jec