A Barking-born author has woven episodes from his own family history into fictional tale featuring science fiction pioneer HG Wells and the writer of a classic music hall song.
Victor E Knight, originally from Barking and now living in Scotland, tells the story of three East End families over several generations from the late 1800s in Two Little Girls in Blue.
The books draws on the lives of his grandparents, who managed a pub in the East End at a time when memories of Jack the Ripper still haunted the local slums.
Mr Knight also includes science fiction pioneer HG Wells, who guides the narrator to unravel the tragedy that has shaped his family members' lives.
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The book also weaves in the sentiment of the 1893 song, Two Little Girls in Blue, whose New York composer also makes an appearance.
Victor E Knight was born in 1939 in Barking, where he says the public library provided more of his early education than his primary school.
He took a degree in German and Russian at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and, later, a PhD in German at Edinburgh. He held various posts in university libraries, finally, as chief librarian, at Liverpool.
A musician, he studied piano as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music, has played the trombone in amateur orchestras, and accompanied and conducted amateur operatic societies.
Mr Knight's novel is available in hardback, paperback, and Kindle format, ranging from £3.30 to £29.44, and can be purchased from Amazon or ordered from bookstores.
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