Author's note:

This novel has been proposed for publication but as it seems next to impossible to break into the fiction publishing world, I would rather have the novel read without financial return than have it languish unread for lack of a publisher.

There is a story behind this novel. In 2003 I was diagnosed with cancer that was expected to be terminal. The treatment laid me low mentally and physically for a long period of time (though, as is in evidence, I survived). Preparing for what I thought was a virtually inevitable death, I gave much thought to the issue of how we regard death in this century, thinking initially that I would write a book on the subject. What I discovered, however, was that although almost every part of my physical and mental life was barely functioning, the creative side was free. What emerged was this novel, which I have entitled, Time and Tide.

It was a story that 'wrote itself': each day's output surprising me and taking the story in directions I never envisaged. The story addresses the issues of life and death. It also addresses the issues of faith and spirituality. When I commenced writing I was in a time that I had been in for some years, of profound spiritual doubt and uncertainty. Parallel with the writing of the novel there took place within me a complete spiritual revolution - which is reflected also in the novel.

Music also played an immensely important part for me during these months before and during the writing of the novel. I began to listen to what music was saying to me about life and death and discovered vast new dimensions to music in the process. this too found expression in the novel.

Happy reading!

David Guthrie, February 2009


Synopsis

Meeting on a beach in midsummer New Zealand, a relationship develops between a young music student with a yearning to be a composer and a middle-aged woman painter who learns that she is dying. This is a story about their relationship, developed into the face of death, a relationship that releases the powers of creativity and vision.


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