Bill Batley's Notebook

Bill Batley's Notebook is a lighthearted reflection on the crises and mistakes of an unexpectedly retired family man. Bill has lost his status as an 'important' business executive. His natural optimism and a generous pension help him to look forward. But he is confused about his opportunities in what he sees as a slightly mad world. He has a mostly happy marriage, an adult son and daughter, two grandchildren, a house in Fulham and a dog. Can he find anything useful to do? He tries a foodbank and a drugs charity and studies the foibles of his neighbours and friends. Bill strives to maintain his comfortable status quo. He has to reconcile himself with friends who don't always come up to the mark, with the strains on his marriage caused by his wife's attraction to another man and his own tit-for-tat dabbling with another woman. He has a spendthrift son who worries him and an unmarried daughter with two children.


Genre: Literary Fiction