Luck Can Change

It is December, 1941, and the Japanese have begun their invasion of Malaya. June Fulbright is trying to reach Singapore to get a passage home, but now the bus has left, leaving her

stranded at the roadside. Happily, Lieutenant Neil Mason stops to offer her a lift, and she can breathe again. During the highly-charged 400 mile journey, they become so attached that when they part, he to rejoin his regiment, and she to embark for Colombo, they do so with great sadness. Neil promises to find her when they're home again, but June finds it hard to share his optimism. Neil joins a squad of 'left-behind' guerillas, harassing the Japanese and training native fighters, whilst June arrives in Ceylon, her home for the next four years. Meanwhile, neither

of them knows whether the other is alive or dead. Peace eventually comes, and with it, a chance for each to learn of the other's fate, but the task seems impossible. Ray Hobbs is a native of West Yorkshire, but he now lives in the Durham Dales. Luck Can Change is his thirty-fourth novel.