The Adventures of Zoe and Chloe

Description

with illustrations by Susan Fleming

About the book:

Zoe and Chloe are identical and inseparable twins with a determined spirit of independence and a taste for adventure. They spend most of their holidays at their grandparents’ home in the Lake District where many of their adventures take place.
They wander through the moonlit woods seeking the bogle of Bogle Wood and meeting with the ghost on the heights above Windermere. Chloe is captured by the fairies and Zoe meets a squirrel who tells her how to rescue her sister by counting the stones of a stone circle.
A moonlight visit to the famous Castlerigg stone circle finds them involved in the strange rituals of a wicca ceremony and on High Rigg in the Vale of St John they get a fright when they see the Brocken Spectre.
In a Borrowdale wood they encounter an adder and an angry wounded bull. Other adventures take them to Orkney and the Old Man of Hoy, and to Derbyshire where they meet trouble while engaged in the traditional, but risky, autumn pastime of scrumping and with the aid of a friendly fairy they spend a day in the fourteenth century.
The twins may be identical in appearance but they have distinctly different personalities and this does much to add interest to their adventures.
These stories have been enjoyed by readers of all ages from seven to 87 who also expressed their appreciation of the illustrations by Susan Fleming which capture the essential detail so beautifully.

About the Author:
Robert Gambles was born and grew up in Derbyshire. He was a scholar of St John’s College, Oxford, where he took an Honours degree in Modern History and a post-graduate Diploma in Education. He also has a Licentiate Diploma in Music. His professional career was spent in Education, mainly in Ely and Liverpool.
He acquired a love of the Lake District early in life and he has lived in Cumbria in his years of retirement during which he has explored the whole district and written a number of books and many articles on various aspects of its history.
The author has also pursued his interest in a wider national history and a critical study of some of the well-known stories from British history was published in 2013 under the title Great Tales from British History, and was described by The Guardian as ‘hugely enjoyable’.
Through his Norwegian wife he acquired a special interest in the life and history of Norway: Hayloft recently published his acclaimed Espen Ash Lad a collection of Folk Tales from Norway.
A keen but pragmatic interest in conservation and the protection of the natural environment has always featured in his philosophy of life and he was for many years a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Lake District. He has also worked as a volunteer for the National Trust.