Newbury author Paula Sheridan’s Finding Penrose recounts the true-life tale of a man’s journey from enslaved boy to goat herder to hero.
It was while growing up in South Africa that Paula first encountered Penrose's remarkable story.
“Let yourself be whisked away to a stifling hot African hut,” says Paula. “Your destination... Basutoland, in the heart of Southern Africa.
“The sun’s burning down on your head, there’s barely a breath of wind sneaking between the trees, yet, only meters away, elephant hunters are stalking the arid Savannah close to a little boy's mud hut. Scared? Well that’s how 12-year-old Tiki Penrose Matsile felt when, in 1922, his innocent world of looking forward to his manhood initiation was ripped apart. Instead of taking the long-awaited ceremony, Penrose was enslaved as a goat herder and spent the rest of his life searching for his identity.”
Fast-forward to that boy's incredible story that Paula shares with us , a heart-warming story of an extraordinary man's courage and hope during the turbulent South African years between 1950 and 1980. Finding Penrose is based on the true story of Tiki Penrose Matsile, a man who only received his identity document a year before his passing. Written by his ‘granddaughter’ Paula Sheridan the book is a testament to the enduring human spirit and the power of hope.
In 1922, a young Sesotho boy on the brink of manhood is ripped from his home after witnessing his father's brutal murder, and escapes the clutches of slavery with amnesia and only his name. Under the oppressive South African apartheid, every step is a risk for a young man without an identity.
Haunted by the scars of trauma, Penrose finds sanctuary with a white family in apartheid South Africa, but without an identity, every step is fraught with danger. Torn between loyalty and his own burning desire for freedom, Penrose embarks on a dangerous quest to reclaim his past while risking everything to protect his new-found family.
As he navigates the treacherous landscape of racial tension and hidden secrets, Penrose uncovers a painful truth that forces him to confront his destiny. Risking his life to shield a friend from a mob's violence unlocks a flood of buried memories, forcing him to redefine what it means to be courageous.
For Paula, Finding Penrose represents a decades-long labour of love and a promise kept, a promise she made to Penrose when she was just 20 years old that she would write his story and share it with the world. “It touched me deeply while writing it as I recalled the years of growing up with this wonderful man. I even shed tears when I wrote some parts of his story, and especially the poignant ending!”
Born in South Africa and later moving to England to raise her son, her journey to bring Penrose Matsile's extraordinary tale to life is a testament to her unwavering commitment and the enduring power of storytelling. Through her poignant narrative, she invites readers to celebrate the triumph of the human spirit, the enduring bonds of love and family, and the importance of keeping one's word.
Years passed, and Paula Sheridan found herself balancing the demands of raising her son and pursuing her writing dreams. During these years, while living in Tadley and Newbury for over two decades, she taught swimming to hundreds, if not thousands of people passing through Tadley Swimming Pool, Basingstoke Lido and Willink Leisure Centre, including children, babies and older learners.
Yet, the promise she made to Penrose remained etched in her heart, a constant reminder of the power of storytelling and the enduring bonds of love and family. And that story is now to be shared with the world.
Everyone who has been touched by Finding Penrose believes his story "deserves, perhaps even demands to be heard" and so Paula Sheridan's mission is to take Penrose's story to a wider global audience.
Penrose's story has already captured the hearts of celebrities and two film producers, who are developing the story for the big screen. “We have attached a director and are now in talks with a film financier. We hope to reveal these details over the next few weeks when all the details are finalised.”
You can meet Penrose and more about his story here: https://findingpenrose.com/meet-penrose
Paula Sheridan, author of Finding Penrose, has five published novels, one of which won the People’s Book Prize (The Grotto’s Secret) and three non-fiction books, one of which was a long bestseller called Pimp My Site.
The book is available through her Kickstarter campaign from June 18 to July 16 where readers can pledge to be a named character in the book and there will be a special limited edition.
After the campaign closes, the special edition will no longer be available but the paperback and eBook will be available on all online bookstores and high street book shops from October.
The link is here: https://bit.ly/FP-news
Paula runs Page Turner Awards which is a writing contest for authors to showcase their published books, writers who seek literary representation or a publisher for their unpublished manuscripts and screenplays and TV scripts looking for film producers to option them. Writers submit their writing project, a prestigious panel of judges score the submissions and we announce the winners every year in November.
