AN author has gone back to his Wirral roots in his new book which will be launched at West Kirby Bookshop.

Nicholas Hill, who works as a  commercial property developer in the South of France, where he lives with his wife, Samantha, and their three young children, has used the peninsula as the setting for The Journey - a novel about "relationships, choices and family and how no one is protected from events beyond our control".

"I was six when my family moved from Snowdonia to West Kirby, and I have fond memories of a childhood sailing on the Marine Lake, playing on Calday Beach and exploring Thurstaston Common," said Nicholas, 63. 

"By the time I left Calday Grange Grammar School, however, I was ready to travel, and after studying at the London School of Economics, I set off to explore the world.

"40 years later, having spent most of my working life in Africa and Continental Europe, I am excited to be reconnecting with the Wirral!"

Wirral Globe: The Journey by Nicholas Hill The Journey by Nicholas Hill (Image: www.bookguild.co.uk)

The Journey is available at the newly opened West Kirby Bookshop, where Nicholas will be hosting a private launch event on Tuesday, September 20, and from Waterstones, WHSmith, Foyles, Blackwell’s and Amazon UK.

Tickets to the launch may be obtained from: hello@thewestkirbybookshop.com.

Nicholas added: “The idea for writing The Journey came on a family trip to the Lake District when I saw a job vacancy pinned to the front door of a pub.

"My three young children were misbehaving, and I imagined abandoning my life as a loving husband and father to start a new life, free of responsibility in an idyllic rural village.

"After I bought ice-creams, my children’s behaviour improved, but I was still struck by the idea, one of the key elements in my novel. Another is how nothing is ever certain – how our well-laid plans are forever at the mercy of events we can’t control.

"With beautiful settings on the Wirral and in the Lake District and likeable characters, The Journey is an easy read for a Sunday afternoon, the daily commute or a day on the beach.”