Mackenzie Ford
Mackenzie Ford, author of Gifts of War and The Clouds Beneath the Sun, is the nom de plume of Peter Watson, a well-known and respected historian whose books are published in twenty languages. He was educated at the Universities of Durham, London, and Rome, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous publications in the United Kingdom. Since 1998 he has been a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
Books
Gifts of War
During the Christmas Truce of 1914, Hal Montgomery, a British soldier, is given a photo by a German soldier, Wilhelm Wetzlar, and they make a pact. Hal promises to find his enemy’s English girlfriend, Samantha, and let her know her fiancé is alive and thinking of her. Several weeks later, Hal—now injured—is discharged from the army and goes to Stratford on Avon to fulfill his promise. But things take an unexpected turn when he meets the woman in the photo and falls in love with her himself. As their romance blossoms, Sam shares with Hal her most private confidence: Her newborn son is of German lineage, information that threatens her reputation and her job as a schoolteacher. Fearful that he will lose Sam, Hal holds tight to the secret–and the photograph–that brought them together.
The scene shifts to London, where Hal becomes involved with military intelligence and is introduced to Sam’s sisters and a different kind of secrecy. Against the broader landscape of England in wartime, Gifts of War captures the era and the fates of men and women caught in the sweep of history. A vivid tale of romance, adventure, and intrigue, the novel is a remarkable narrative that explores what made War World I so tragic, so revolutionary, and so exciting. It also announces a gifted new novelist.
(Nan A. Talese, June 2009)
The Clouds Beneath the Sun
Kenya, 1961. As a small place carrying Nathalie Nelson lands at a remote airstrip in the Serengeti, Nathalie knows she's run just about as far as she can from home. Trained as an archaeologist, she has fought hard to be included in a team excavating ruins in Kenya, her first opportunity to escape England and the painful memories of her past. But before she can find her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy--and murder. In a country on the brink of crisis, nowhere and no one is safe. As a growing attraction to Jack Deacon, famed explorer, becomes a passionate, reckless affair, Nathalie is faced with a decision that will shape her life forever...
(Nan A. Talese/Random House, July 2010)