John Silverton
I am a former freelance journalist, newspaper columnist and magazine features writer, although most of my commercial life has been in marketing.
My first novel, A Pearl Amongst Oysters, narrates a passionate romance inspired by a true event.
A second novel, working title A Murder of Crows, is in progress. This is a story of revenge and murder set in the art world.
Marilyn, a collection of forty short stories, will be published in 2026.
A Pearl Amongst Oysters
Inspired by a true love affair, the intensity and passion of a lived experience renders a vividly absorbing narrative beginning in England in 1976, spanning two cultures, two continents and half a century.
Married Englishman, Chris Patterson, meets a beautiful Chinese woman, Fong. They fall passionately in love but she is unaware of his marriage and two young children. Eventually, Chris has to reveal his marriage and, although no longer in love with his wife, cannot bear to leave his children. Fong is heartbroken and returns to Hong Kong.
Chris’s wife discovers the affair leading to a devastating chain of events adversely affecting all their lives including Chris’s loss of contact with Fong.
Years later, with the children old enough to understand, Chris divorces and travels to Hong Kong to search for Fong. He is hopeful of rekindling their love despite knowing she was obliged to enter an arranged marriage. However, although a widow, she doesn’t want to be found, hiding a stunning secret.