Will Stebbings's Books

Off the Mark

By: Will Stebbings

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A humorous rite of passage novel set in 1960s Norfolk in the days before computers, but in an era of glorious soul music Off the Mark charts the progress of Mark Barker, who at sixteen years old leaves an all boys’ Grammar School with absolutely no experience of girls or, indeed, the world as a whole. Mark’s first foray into the world of work is at an office in a time before computers or modern photocopiers or calculators. His first job also launches him into the presence of girls. As a very shy youth who lacks confidence in his ability to attract the opposite sex, he ends up forming attractions to all the wrong girls – for all the wrong reasons. He wavers between the waspish Karen, who breaks his heart with her lack of compassion, the beautiful Pauline and painfully shy Debbie. Unsuccessful blind dates and foursomes only serve to exacerbate the loneliness of this sensitive teenager, as he scrapes through to manhood – luckily his sense of humour pulls him through.Off the Mark brings life in the sixties for a working class family in a small Norfolk town vividly to life and will be a stroll down memory lane for many readers.

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Page Count

273

Publisher

Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1780881525

ISBN 13

9781780881522

Further Off the Mark

By: Will Stebbings

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Further Off the Mark

By: Will Stebbings

Further Off the Mark is the amusing sequel to Off the Mark, the humourous novel set in 1960s Norfolk In this latest book, we rejoin Mark Barker, now aged nineteen and moving on from his youthful awkwardness, but still seeking to expand on his paltry experience of girls of the opposite sex. He pursues a variety of young women, including the lovely Sandy who shares his love of soul music; as does her equally attractive and flirtatious mother, causing Mark much anguish and confusion, but as with most of his encounters, he often confuses love with lust! As he tries to establish a new career, Mark makes enemies; wrecking his chances of advancement, but there is a consolation in his new attractive female assistant, Della. However, nothing with Mark goes according to plan so after all this time will he manage to get further off the mark? The novel is set in Norfolk in the late sixties and is a nostalgic journey to a simpler time when a ‘discotheque evening’ was a new concept and when unreliable cars could be coaxed into action by jumping up and down on their door sills!

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