Raphael Wilkins

Raphael Wilkins

Raphael Wilkins now writes short stories and travel memoirs, following decades of academic writing in the education field. He lives in Barnard Castle in County Durham, UK, where he shares a rambling house with his wife and nine cats.

As an educationist his work was London-based, but involved extensive international travel, which provided the settings for his creative writing. His travel memoir, Accidental Traveller, tells a frank and personal story of his introduction to work-related global travel in middle age.

The following are extracts of some of the reviews of Accidental Traveller on www.goodreads.com

Marcella Gonzales: ‘Accidental Traveller’ is hands-down one of the most riveting and well-crafted books I’ve read in a long time! I was completely drawn in from the opening pages, and absolutely loved the author’s use of description of the different places he goes, from China to Saudi Arabia to Africa and more, and the attention to cultural detail. We feel transported not only to several amazing places, but have some amazing experiences as well…’

Book Princess Sofia: ‘This is an excellent book that captured my attention from the beginning, pulled me in, and never once let go. Each scene and description of the places visited was engaging, authentic, and flowed smoothly from one to the next… The descriptions were very strong, and I mean with the author’s word choice: unique and powerful, and quite literary…’

Jenna: ‘I really loved this book. I thought it was excellently written… It kept my attention from the opening to the satisfying ending. I liked Mr Wilkins’ writing style very much, and found myself completely lost in this book…Was almost disappointed when I was done as I wanted to keep going…’

Brenda: ‘I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into…because I do tend to lean towards the paranormal/fantasy romance elements of literature… So a book about some travel memoirs? I was intrigued by the writing sample and the way that I felt an almost immediate connection to not only the author, but with the way that Raphael Wilkins was writing about himself and these places, and I found myself just wanting to read more…and more…and I couldn’t believe it when I realized I was totally hooked, and I felt transported to another part of the world just by reading through these pages. You can practically taste the food and see the sights. Feel like I actually learned something about these places too that I didn’t know before. The writing is beautiful, very clean narrative. Really glad I took a chance on this one.’

Bella Readz: ‘ Just a heads up…when starting Accidental Traveller make sure you don’t have anywhere you need to be…because you won’t want to stop reading until you’ve finished it all!’

Layla: ‘This was a very easy to read book and very impressively written and crafted. There is such strong, vivid writing…great use of imagery and descriptions, everything just felt “authentic”’

Jesse: ‘This book, Accidental Traveller by Raphael Wilkins did a remarkable job of really bringing some incredible places to life and letting the reader experience different parts of the world that we’d normally never be able to do. Beautiful literary prose, and I was impressed by the seamless narrative transitions.’

Kaylee: ‘Holey moley, this book was terrific! Once I started reading I didn’t want to stop…let it take over your soul. I enjoyed the author’s “voice” and style of writing…’

April: ‘Wow, Accidental Traveller by Raphael Wilkins was awesome! I finished it a few weeks ago and am still digesting it. I haven’t read anything like that for a long time, if ever. It is rare to read a biography or memoir about a non-famous person and have it be very interesting (sad, but true). But this was an interesting whirlwind rollercoaster that I was not expecting…I was totally into the different places and scenes and feel like I learned something…LOVE the writing - almost poetic at times, and flowed so nicely.’