A Lust of the Mind

Mark McGuire has the boundless curiosity of a mind without horizons. He loves classical music, serious literature and history. His own detailed exploration of these and associated subjects gives him a much wider education and a more cultured outlook than far more academically successful people. Mark's rise, from the backstreets of Farnmoor to the higher echelons of the Civil Service contains many set-backs and wrong turnings before he eventually finds the way forward to a successful future. But success comes at a price. Mark has become an outsider. His restless quest for knowledge and an understanding of the world around him, has led Mark to deplore the dumbed-down popular culture of contemporary Britain. He refuses to have anything to do with it. His love-life is a series of unsatisfactory relationships with women who are unable to understand his individualistic philosophy. Is he destined to be alone forever?

Bernard Howell was born in Bolton in 1951. Following a Secondary School education he had a series of uninteresting jobs in his teens and twenties. He became a mature student at the age of thirty and, following graduation, the remainder of his working life was spent in the UK Civil Service. Bernard now lives in the Philippines with his wife and family. In addition to being an avid reader, he also enjoys classical music and history. Retirement has given him the opportunity to fulfil his lifetime ambition to write. A Lust Of The Mind is his first novel.