These Years: 1986: 2

Some first loves never completely disappear.

Ruth Whitehead, now 25, returning to the States after a trip to Italy, stops off for a few nights in England to visit her English cousin, the artist Greg Adams. She has not seen him since his stay in Massachusetts thirteen years previously. Memories of the crush she had then developed on him now amuse her, but when back in his company she finds that her adolescent feelings are not entirely extinguished. His friendliness and obvious pleasure in seeing her again not only contrast with the palpable hostility of his disabled wife, but also shed an uncomfortable light on the state of her relationship with boyfriend Darren, awaiting her back in Boston.

The continuing effect on her later life of Ruth’s youthful crush is sensitively, and at times humorously, explored, and will be resumed in a third novella, These Years: 1991.

R.N.F. (RICHARD) SKINNER is a scientist through education, a writer by inclination, and a mental health worker (now retired) for remuneration. He has published several collections of poetry (as Richard Skinner), and three works of fiction: a novel, Still Crazy... (SilverWood 2020), a collection of short stories and comedy sketches, After All... (SilverWood 2022), and the novella These Years: 1973 (SilverWood 2024), to which the current work is a sequel. He has also composed lyrics for a range of songs including the Christmas musical Bethlehem!As well as being a member of the famous Footlights club while an undergraduate at Cambridge University, he also co-founded and performed extensively with the cabaret-revue team Seventh Sense. He continues to write and perform sketch-based comedy.Though a Londoner by upbringing, he has lived in Exeter for many years. He is a qualified social worker, and in 2012 he was awarded a doctorate from Exeter University for his thesis on religion and evolutionary theory. He lives with his wife, three hens, a dog and a cat.