A BEACONSFIELD man has had his début novel published about a Saxon grave found on the edge of an English village.

Described as a thriller with a supernatural twist, Saxon's Bane by Geoffrey Gudgion was published by Solaris Books.

He said: "It is wonderful to have it published and to have a physical object and get some good reviews"

It was after he saw a novel consultant that the book was published. It had previously been rejected by publishers. The consultant advised him why it was rejected. Although this cost quite a bit it was then accepted on the first submission after that.

Geoffrey said: "I thought wouldn't it be fun to bring the past to life in the present. "I borrowed a Saxon legend called Aegl and his wife Olrun, who was a swan maiden.

"It brings that legend to life in the present. It has a supernatural twist but in a believable way.

"It is ambiguous- they don't know if something is going on or not."

It took two years to complete from start to finish.

It is set in the present day but with a Saxon legend at its heart. The peat-preserved bodies of a Saxon warrior and a woman are discovered near a remote English village.

A young archaeologist becomes obsessed with her project, and struggles to reconcile her academic discipline with her growing, preternatural understanding of a Dark Ages war crime.

But the smiling countryside nearby harbours other, sinister secrets, and present-day events begin to mirror the ancient past until she and her boyfriend seem destined to share the Saxon couple's bloody fate.

Geoffrey lives in Beaconsfield with his wife, Deborah and has two children called Sophie, who lives in London and James who lives in Sydney, Australia. Before he started writing six years ago he had different career.

He said: "I always wanted to write. I was a really irritating school kid who enjoyed English homework. "I have always wanted to but never had the courage while I had children at school and uni and that kind of thing.

"My background- I was in the navy for a while. I had a career in marketing technology. "About six years ago I had a blazing row with my boss- a parting of the ways type of row.

"I decided at that point I would always do what I wanted to do."

Geoffrey will be talking about his book on September 27 at 11am at Beaconsfield Library.

The book is available to buy online. Go to www.solarisbooks.com for more details.

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