Greed (Paperback) | Released: 04 Nov 2016

'Greed' contains two stories: one set in the days of 'The Californian Gold Rush' and the other in Wigan during the 1950's. Both stories illustrate the triumph of the good person over that of the greedy one who seeks to get what want through thieving, cheating, lying and bullying. The stories have a thief, cheat, liar and bully and an honest person as characters whose lives impact on each other. In 'Four Crude Dudes and the Land of Hope', the story is set in the days of the Californian Gold Rush. It tells how the lives of five characters who are strangers, impact upon the lives of each other and how the thief, cheat, liar and bully get their comeuppance and how the honest and God-fearing farmer of selfless disposition is rewarded.The story is set against the backcloth of a mining town in California and it provides a good taste of what the prospectors of the time would have experienced as they strove to strike it rich. In the second story of 'Two Crude Dames and Horace Catchpole', the setting is in Wigan during the 1950's. It tells of the life of Horace, a wimpish and downtrodden man who endures a life of cruelty, humiliation and bullying at the hands of two monstrous women; first his mother and then his wife, whom his mother sells him in marriage to for the princely sum of £1,000. Horace's life becomes more and more unbearable, especially when all three start living together in order that the two greedy women can save money on housekeeping by pooling their resources. Eventually, our hapless hero has had enough and he starts to assert himself. The worm eventually turns and the two monstrous women get their comeuppance. Both stories are suitable as a 'cross-over' book and can be enjoyed by any reader between the ages of 9 and 90 years of age.
About the Author: William Forde was born in Ireland and now lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire, England with his wife Sheila. He has 5 children and is the author of 64 published books and 2 musical plays which are now available as Ebooks. One of West Yorkshire's most popular children's authors, his books were publicly read in over 2000 Yorkshire school assemblies by over 800 famous names and celebrities from the realms of Royalty, Film, Stage, Screen, Politics, Church, Sport between 1990 and 2002. The late Princess Diana read his earlier books to her then young sons, William and Harry. The late Nelson Mandela once phoned him to praise an African storybook he wrote. Others who have supported his works include 3 Princesses, 3 Prime Ministers, 2 Presidents and numerous Bishops of the realm. Former Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted, the late Chris Woodhead described his writings to the press as 'high quality literature.' Always at the forefront of change, he became the youngest Youth Leader and Trade Union Shop Steward in Great Britain at 18. In 1971, he founded Anger Management in Great Britain and freely gave his courses to the world. In the next 2 years, Anger Management courses mushroomed across the English-speaking world. In the mid-70s, he introduced Relaxation Training into HM Prisons. Between 1970 and 1995, he worked as a Probation Officer specialising in Relaxation Training, Anger and Stress Management, and Assertive Training Group Work introducing Relaxation Training groups into HM Prisons and many other establishments. He retired early due to ill health in 1995 to further his writing career. This led him to work with the Minister of Youth and Culture in Jamaica establishing a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project between 64 primary schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and Yorkshire. William was awarded the MBE in the 1995 New Year's Honours List for services to West Yorkshire. He has never sought to materially profit from the publication of his books and all profit from their sales (approx £200,000 between 1990 and 2002) were given to charity. His latest stories are romantic and are published for adults under the generic title of "Tales from Portlaw". However, his last two books have been 'strictly for adult' novels set in Northern England, where he has lived most of his life. In 2013, William Forde learned that he had a terminal illness (CLL) for which he is presently undergoing treatment.