“This is a story of a life well lived” is how Croxley resident Richard East starts his novel The Rocky Road, and it’s hard to argue with him.
What follows isn’t just a memoir; it’s an unfiltered journey through dark humour, hard-earned wisdom and a journey of a “man that used to be”.
Born and raised in Croxley, the book follows Richard through the 1980s as he travels to India on a mission to smuggle drugs into the UK, is caught and jailed, and gets himself caught in a cycle of questionable decisions.
After years of his wife and friends encouraging him to put his memories to paper, Richard decided he would listen after reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
Speaking to Croxley News, Richard said: “A friend told me the book was basically my life story apart from it’s not a true story. The day I finished it, I just sat down and wrote my book.”
Sitting down at his laptop, Richard deliberately wanted to capture his story as honestly and unpolished as possible, as if it was a conversation from across a table.
Richard said: “Some of us live a life where we do the right thing and some of us don’t and have to learn by hard knocks and punishment.
“I don’t regret anything in my life, so it was easy to write this story because of the emotions attached to my memories. It was a natural progression through the book and in a way, it wrote itself.”
The book is available at www.the-rocky-road.com and there will be a book launch at The Kitchen Croxley from 7pm on Friday, August 15. The book will also be available in Waterstones and W.H. Smith at the end of June.
0 Comments