Lainy's tale by S L Rosewarne
Suki longs to adopt the troubled rescue dog, Lainy, but has severe doubts about whether she has the necessary qualities to deal with her. Moll, however, is determined that they can provide the right home for Lainy, and Suki’s boyfriend Joe, and best friend, Tess, an animal behaviourist, both persuade her that adopting Lainy is the best thing for all of them. Lainy tells Moll of her troubled past: being taken from the streets in Romania to a kill shelter, where she was rescued by a charity and brought over to the UK. Unfortunately, Lainy’s first home didn’t treat her well and when she was forced to bite to protect herself, she was punished, and taken back by the charity. Lainy went to another home, but the owner died of cancer, so she was up for adoption again. A kind foster carer wanted to adopt her, but Lainy chased their cat and nipped her husband’s ankles, so Tess was desperate to find Lainy the right kind of home. Lainy settles in with Moll and Suki but they realise how nervous and jumpy she is: chasing cars, joggers, cyclists: and anything that moves fast. When Suki and Tess take up running, this proves to be an excellent outlet for Lainy’s sped and prey drive, and they all breathe a sigh of relief. Lainy proves to be exceptionally affectionate, intelligent and funny, soon winning a firm place in everyone’s hearts, including Joe. But it becomes apparent she has PTSD as a result of her past experiences and can overreact when frightened. One day, when Suki bends over Lainy to give her a kiss, Lainy reacts instinctively and panics, biting Suki near her eye. Everyone is horrified, including Lainy, and it takes a long while for the wound to heal, proving a long-lasting reminder of her PTSD. Moll is terrified that Suki will send Lainy back, and who will take on a dog that bites? She has to find some way of helping Lainy regain Suki’s trust, and also help Lainy regain her confidence. But how? Running helps Lainy, and one day when Suki is out walking with a friend, they come across a musician playing the accordion so beautifully, they are all transfixed. Including Lainy, whose stress evaporates as she listens to the music. Suki is delighted and wonders whether he may be able to help Lainy. In the meantime, she decides to use music therapy at home to calm her frightened dog. Suki goes to listen to Zach, the musician, and notices that while he’s playing, he seems transported, but when he stops, he seems awkward and nervous. Suki finds out that he doesn’t have friends here, but he adores dogs and he’s on prescription painkillers. He also has PTSD but finds that music helps him. Suki wonders what happened, and whether she might be able to help him? Could he and Lainy help each other? Meanwhile, Moll is delighted that Suki and Joe’s relationship is strengthening. He seems a good match for Suki and they are happy together. But when Joe meets Zach, he is very wary of him and won’t say why. When a stranger tries to steal Zach’s accordion, Lainy races to the rescue, nipping the man’s leg to make him drop the accordion. She is hailed as a heroine, but afterwards Zach has a panic attack and Suki is able to help, having also had panic attacks in the past. Zach reveals that he used to work as a paramedic in war zones and lost his best friend in a fire, unable to save him. Zach is riddled with guilt, and sustained appalling burns in the process, hence his painkillers. He also has housing problems and no friends. Suki advises that talking to a counsellor would help, but he doesn’t feel able to do that. She realises that it’s easier to get help for Lainy’s PTSD than it is for Zach’s: they have Tess on hand, and Lainy is eager to change, whereas Zach doesn’t feel able to ask for help. And even if he did, resources are very stretched. Tess finds that Lainy’s bravery has been posted on social media, and while the majority of people applaud her bravery, a few have labelled her a dangerous dog for having bitten the thief. Tess is worried that the police might see, as this behaviour is in contravention of the Dangerous Dogs Act. She advises that Lainy must wear a muzzle to protect herself and others. Everyone is horrified at the idea of Lainy being muzzled, and although Tess promises to help train her, Suki and Lainy are both distraught. To top it all, Joe suddenly announces he’s off to Wales for a while to work on a job and doesn’t know when he’ll be back. When Joe says he’d rather Suki doesn’t see Zach, she is amazed. But it turns out his ex-girlfriend was an alcoholic so he knows the signs of addiction, and fears that Zach is addicted to painkillers. He knows what it’s like to pour a lot of time and energy into someone who doesn’t want to get better. Suki agrees to keep a distance and relations are recovered between her and Joe, though she has the feeling that he needs time alone to work things out. Meanwhile, Lainy continues with her muzzle training and is getting used to wearing this strange contraption. When Suki meets Zach in town, she keeps her distance but suggests he might like to join a self-help group for men. Zach swears at her and runs off. Suki’s shower develops a bad leak, and Joe recommends his business partner to help. Joe says he’s been adopted by a stray dog that he might bring home. But he seems distant, and Suki wonders whether he’s having second thoughts about their relationship. And she can’t help worrying about Zach, who so obviously needs help but won’t take any. Joe’s partner, Grant, comes to fix Suki’s shower and tells her that Joe had a bad time when his girlfriend Rachel left him the previous year, then his beloved dog died, so he needs time to sort himself out. He warns Suki not to expect too much, as Joe was very badly hurt and will take a long time to recover. Out on a walk, Moll’s boyfriend, Titch, goes missing. Everyone is devastated when he fails to appear but the light fades and they have to return home. Moll contemplates her future, and realises she isn’t worried about getting old, just about getting old without Titch. Finally, thanks to Bill, a man Suki and Tess meet in the woods, who has three dogs trained in search and rescue, Titch is found - though by Lainy. He is taken to the vets and will return home as soon as possible. When he’s back, Moll talks to him but he is too weak and dies. Moll is utterly broken and goes into a decline, feeling she has nothing to live for. It takes a long while before she realises she can’t let Pip and Titch down, and she must fight back. At least there is good news - Joe is going to adopt the stray dog, Tinker, and he invites Suki and the dogs up to Wales for the weekend. But at the last minute Joe has to cancel. His ex-girlfriend’s mother is very ill with cancer and Rachel has asked Joe to go with her to London to see her dying mother. Joe says he will, as he needs to sort things out. Suki is deeply disappointed, but determines to keep busy, and the next day, Suki and the dogs come across a fracas in town. It seems that Zach has been stealing food to fund his heroin habit. Apparently he couldn’t get repeat prescriptions for his painkillers, and it was easier to get heroin. He has gone off the rails since, is homeless, and runs off. Suki is desperately disappointed and takes the dogs to a local park where suddenly the dogs find a scent and charge off. Suki finds Lainy standing guard over several men and an unconscious Zach. She rings for an ambulance; Zach has taken an overdose, and he is fortunate in being taken to hospital. The other men are Eastern European, very frightened and speak no English but Suki manages to get them help from a local charity. Suki later hears that the men have been housed in a hostel and Zach has a social worker who is trying to get him into a rehab unit. Tess persuades Suki to ring Joe as she’s worried about their relationship. She does so but Rachel answers Joe’s phone and tells her that he doesn’t want to talk to her. Suki is horrified, but a few minutes later Joe rings her back, unaware of what Rachel has done. Suki updates him and says she’s looking forward to meeting Tinker, the stray dog he’s adopting. Joe is hoping to return the following week, but he says he still has things to sort out and rings off. Suki meets Bill, the man with the search and rescue dogs, who thinks Lainy has a good career as a sniffer dog, with more training. They go for a coffee and Suki feels glad to have such a good friend who also understands about rescue dogs. She is cheered but still concerned about Joe and their relationship. Zach turns up on her doorstep, swaying and angry. He accuses Suki of meddling in his life and making things worse. Moll and Lainy are very worried he could get violent so they prevent him coming into the house, and Suki asks him to leave, so he lurches off down the road. Suki is shaken but has stood up for herself and realises she can’t help him until he wants to get help. She blocks his number from her phone and realises he needs to be more like Lainy - more trusting and willing to change. Suki receives an abrupt message from Joe thanking her for being such a good friend but says things are complicated. She thinks the worst, as does Tess, who comforts her but they are all devastated, and Moll wonders how on earth she can prevent Suki from getting hurt again. After a cheering meal with a friend one evening, Suki receives a message from Joe. He apologises for the difficulty in communication, he’s back home with Tinker, and would Suki be free for a walk? She’s wary, but realises he has sorted things out and is delighted, then he rings and asks if they can meet the following day. They meet, and Moll and Lainy can tell that Joe has overcome the problems he had with Rachel, and is ready to start loving Suki again. They are delighted, particularly as Joe’s dog Tinker is older than Moll had thought, and is an attractive, clever fellow who’s clearly interested in Moll. Things are definitely looking up…
I have Cornish roots but was brought up in Devon and worked in London for 17 years before redundancy brought me back to the South West. At the age of 38 I fell in love with a sailor who sadly died in 2010, but not before we had enjoyed 14 happy years of marriage. Like many writers, I have had a variety of jobs including temping, bar work and waitressing, cleaning, TV news, advertising, being a moonlighting masseuse, working for a fine wine auction company, young offenders and running the accommodation office for a university. I then gave up proper jobs and became a journalist, getting my first commission on my 50th birthday. My beloved terrier, Moll, who features in all my walking books, sadly died in 2020 so I now live in Falmouth with my Romanian rescue dog, Lainy, who is very affectionate and a bit of a tart. I have interviewed many authors including Bill Bryson, Ian Rankin, Lionel Shriver and Rosamunde Pilcher for the international writing magazine, Writers’ Forum, and have also written for the Daily Mail, Woman’s Weekly, Vision Now, Classic Boat, Sailing Today and many other magazines. I have been a columnist and Sailing Correspondent for Cornwall Today, and a regular contributor since 2008, writing personal profiles, health pieces, sports articles, features, antique slots, author interviews and walks. I have also written for the websites www.feetontheground.holiday, The Tonic and The Overtake. I wrote many walks for Cornwall Today, twenty of which made their way into my first book, Discover Cornwall, which was published by Sigma Press in July 2012. Walks in the Footsteps of Cornish Writers followed in July 2015, Walks in the Footsteps of Poldark in July 2016, Walks in the Footsteps of Daphne du Maurier in April 2018 and Walks in the Footsteps of Rosamunde Pilcher in 2019. Walks in the Footsteps of Cornish Artists was put on hold due to lockdown restrictions. I wrote my first novel aged 12, then in 1995 I took part in the World One Day Novel Cup and was the first to finish. This led to several published short stories and writing my next novel. Since then I have written several novels, been longlisted for the Cinnamon Press novel competition and shortlisted for the Luke Bitmead Award in December 2011. I received Highly Commended in the New Talent Section at the Festival of Romance Awards in November 2012 for my previous novel, Four Left Feet. My debut novel, The Rescue was published in 2022; a quirky tale of second chances, written by woman’s best friend, terrier Moll. Following the success of this, the sequel, Lainy’s Tale is published November 2022; a tale of the healing power of music, a love story, and how past tragedies can leave their scars. I regularly give talks at the Fowey Festival, Penzance Literary Festival and many other institutions such as WEA, WI, Old Cornwall Society, sailing clubs and libraries. In 2021 I appeared in Fern Britton’s My Cornwall discussing Cornish literary inspirations - on horseback! As this was the first time I’d ridden properly for 50 years, it was a challenge in more ways than one, but I loved it. I was nominated as a Finalist in the Page Turner Awards for my novel, Hunger. I can be reached via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sue.jackson.5099940 and my author page https://www.facebook.com/suekittow2016 and on Twitter @floweringpot Instagram - walks_cornish_author My website is www.suekittow.com from where all books can be bought.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781915962218 |
| ISBN 10 | 1915962218 |
| Title | Lainy's tale |
| Author | S L Rosewarne |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Compass-Publishing UK |
| Year published | 2023-10-24 |
| Number of pages | 268 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |