Nostalgia Man in Henley-on-Thames
By Paul S Bradley
By Paul S Bradley
Publication Date: 19th September 2024
Publisher: Paul Bradley, Nerja, Spain
Page Length: 344 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance Suspense
Nostalgia Man in Henley-on-Thames delves into the power of memory, lost love, and confused youth. Oliver Matthews returns to the beautiful riverside town of Henley-on-Thames to confront lingering doubts and secrets. As he reconnects with life in the sixties, disturbing questions and hidden treasures unfurl, redefining his perceptions. Is he hero or villain? This psychological romantic mystery is a meditation on the nature of memory itself. Without memory, we are nothing.
Memories form an integral part of what makes someone a person. Without those memories, how can one truly know themselves? The truth behind the events of the twenty-first of April, 1968, has evaded Oliver Matthew’s mind since the day itself. He knows something happened that day, and yet, the only memory he has is the feeling of shame, so deep that it drove him from his childhood home, and away from everyone he had ever known.
Having finally gained enough courage to return, Oliver finds himself back in Henley-on-Thames after over fifty years. Not knowing what to expect, he begins to revisit the places of his youth, hoping that he might uncover the hidden truths that have haunted his mind.
Nostalgia Man in Henley-on-Thames by Paul S. Bradley is a novel of self-discovery in both a figurative and metaphorical trip down memory lane.
This novel begins as simply a desire to understand a singular event about his past, but quickly develops as Oliver starts to unravel a long thread of intertwined events, hidden in the past, that have long since been put to rest without answer. Henley-on-Thames has held the secrets of 1968 for too long, and without knowing the truth, Oliver can’t rest. Returning home and trying to figure out what actually happened all those years ago has given him purpose, and as a retired detective, looking into the clues and trying to find the people he used to know is a role he falls into easily. As more and more questions crop up, and the mystery grows deeper, it begins to become apparent—there is more to discover than Oliver originally thought, and the truth might prove that he isn’t the person he had previously thought himself to be.
There were three women in Oliver’s youth whose memories have stuck by him for all these years, and all three come with their own mysteries. Inge Lise was his first, and true, love. There was no doubt that his heart still belonged to her, even though he didn’t know where she was, or what she was doing. Sara always had his love, but differently from Inge Lise. While Inge Lise was what he regarded as his soulmate, Sara was more of a friend, but he loved her nonetheless. She had helped him grow as a person and had been an important part of his life. The third woman, Jenny, brought with her a difficult relationship, and one that, even now, Oliver didn’t quite know what to think of. Between the three women, Oliver’s life was greatly impacted, and his relationships with them were certainly a driving force for this novel. After he left Henley-on-Thames, he cut ties with all of his old friends, never writing, or making any effort to get back in touch with them. Upon his return, he found none of the women present and added finding them to his search for the truth.
This story delves into the psychological questions of how the human mind relies upon its memories for a sense of self. With gaps in his memory, as Oliver begins to learn stories about Henley-on-Thames, he starts to question his moralities, and whether he would be capable of some of the things in question. The author has presented the unveiling of certain information in such a way that the reader cannot jump to conclusions any more so than Oliver can about his own life. The clever use of moral dilemmas that Oliver faces keeps the reader engaged throughout the entire novel.
The setting of this novel, in the picturesque riverside town of Henley-on-Thames is described in beautiful detail. The author clearly has a fond place in his heart for this town, and it shines through in Oliver’s depiction of his childhood home. This novel truly gives off the authentic feel of an English town, and both the historical and modern depictions are incredibly well written – the reader can truly imagine what the town looks like, and feel the community within.
The layout of this novel brings Oliver to the spotlight, not only in 2023/4 on his search for the past, but also during his time before leaving Henley-on-Thames, back in 1967/8. As he begins to remember his youth in the modern day, more of his past is revealed in the subsequent chapters. The mix between modern investigating and past recollections has been crafted perfectly to produce a story that flows smoothly between the two time periods, and keeps the attention of the reader rapt throughout.
Throughout the novel, there are a few small grammatical errors, consisting mainly of missing speech marks. This does not impact how the story reads, but with a minor edit, these small errors could be eradicated.
A stunning rendition of nostalgia, of returning home after decades and reliving the memories of days long past, Nostalgia Man in Henley-on-Thames by Paul S. Bradley is an enchanting novel to read which is most perfectly summed up in its own tagline; Without memory we are nothing.
I Highly Recommend
Review by Ellie Yarde
Yarde Reviews & Book Promotion
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Nostalgia Man in Henley-on-Thames
Paul S Bradley
Born in London and raised in Market Harborough and Henley-on-Thames, Paul S Bradley has lived and worked in Nerja, Spain, for over thirty years, writing and publishing lifestyle magazines, guidebooks, and travelogues in English, German, and Spanish.
On retirement, he self-published his first book of five of the Andalusian Mystery Series on Amazon.
More recently, he co-authored Reinventing the Wheel, a biography of Patricia A. Broderick, America's first mobility-impaired female judge, which Rand Smith published on June 17th, 2024. The book was officially launched on June 25th at a large gathering at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., attended by retired Senator Tom Harkin, who wrote the foreword and was the author of the ADA, the American Disabilities Act.
The Fontainebleau is based on the true story of the Edwards, a British family that bought a half-finished hostel in Nerja, Spain, during the 1970s. Paul co-authored the book with the youngest son, Robert H. Edwards.
Nostalgia Man in Henley on Thames is the first of a trilogy exploring memory. It is also the first non-Spanish novel set in the area where the author lived during the 1960s.
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