Ninety-year-old author proves age is no barrier as she publishes latest novel
Proving that you are never too old to achieve an ambition of Barbara Maitra, from Oswestry, who at 90 years of age has published her latest novel, The Spice Years.
Her romantic drama is set in India, where she lived for 15 years, five of which were spent as part of an extended family.
Barbara is already working on yet another book and said: "To me 90 is just a number which does not stop anyone achieving anything.
"I mention this as it might inspire people of a similar age group to just go that extra mile with their own hobbies and near successes.
"I have been writing since I was five years old and that means I have had 85 years of practising.
"Previously I have published three books through Amazon in 2013.
"One was called We Came to a River and was about India, and The Spice Years is a rewrite of that book.
"The story starts in the 1950s where remaining Brits were just coming to terms with Indian independence.
"There was tension between the two cultures but the novel is not an analysis of culture clashes but a romantic drama.
"A girl like myself is the heroine but this is decidedly not autobiographical and her steamy affair was merely observed.
"I was a dedicated housewife who celebrated 50 years of happy marriage.
"I have also previously published a novel with a bit of a mystery, called The Girl Who Went Back, as well as a book of short stories, entitled The Perversity of Diamonds.
"I met my late husband while he was studying at Sheffield University and I was studying English.
"He returned to India and we were married in Calcutta on August 3, 1955.
"I lived in the family house for five years before Pradyot changed jobs and went to work elsewhere and we returned to England in 1970.
"You make friends with the characters in books and cannot live without them, but they are merely creation."
The Spice Years has been published by Canaan-Star and is on sale for £12.99 from independent bookshops and through Waterstones website and Amazon.
