Ann Henning Jocelyn

Keylines for Living - Words to inspire and sustain you

Published by O Books (www.o-books.net).

€14.99 - paperback - ISBN 978-1846940-43-9

Available from your favourite bookshop or online retailer

For reading and rereading, for giving and sharing - a wellspring of poetic reflections on themes of deep concern to us all: love and loss, personal growth, and relationships with others and with the world. Presented with warmth, wisdom and true perception, Keylines will strike a chord with readers of all ages, from all walks of life.

Each time you open this book, you may find that one particular entry seems to speak to you personally, address your current status quo. Or else, it will contain something that could help or comfort a friend, perhaps someone struck by illness or recently bereaved. There is comfort in the discovery that pain does not isolate you from others, but brings you closer to the human condition that we all share.

All the material in this book is based on the author's own experiences, on real people, real events, which, no matter how ordinary and mundane, hold the key to much wisdom. Ann Henning Jocelyn writes out of a deep awareness of such matters, in a way that is sensitive and courageous, compassionate and observant, whilst still dealing with the process of growing and being healed.

KEYLINES is a book full of hope, sympathy and comfort, showing everything we encounter in life to be significant, and therefore, worthwhile.

Ann Henning Jocelyn grew up in Sweden and finished her education in England. Whilst still a student she had an early stage debut, and worked in London as a literary translator, introducing authors such as Ruth Rendell, Kazuo Ishiguro and Joanna Trollope to Swedish readers. Since the mid 1980s, having married fellow-author Robert Jocelyn, Earl of Roden, she has been based in the West of Ireland, writing full-time. Eight books and four stage plays have been published/produced in a number of countries. Her greatest success to date is the Connemara Whirlwind Trilogy, which hit the Irish bestseller list in 1990 and is still going strong, with numerous editions to its name. She is also active as a broadcaster in Ireland and Sweden. The first volume of Keylines, a compilation of her "thoughts for the day", broadcast as A Living Word on Ireland's Radio 1, was published by Doonreaghan Press in 2000 and excerpts have  appeared in a number of anthologies. The Swedish version, published by the Bonnier Group in 2001, was book of the month in one of their main book clubs. In Germany, Lebenslinien was published to great acclaim in 2005, and in Portugal Linhas Mestras came out the same year. The French version, L'arbre de vie, was published in September 2006. Keylines for Living will be broadcast as A Living Word, starting May 7th, 2007.

Ann Henning Jocelyn is available for interview. For further information, please contact Cormac Kinsella on 01 634 9924/ cormac.repforce@oceanfree.net

To mark the 25th anniversary of the author's arrival in this country, Keylines  for Living will be launched by Mary Banotti in The Irish Writer's Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 on Tuesday 1st May 2007 at 6.30 pm.

Praise for Ann Henning Jocelyn 

...exuding at times joy and exhilaration, and at times sadness, hurt and isolation, these real life stories mirror the extraordinary spectrum of feeling which human existence can create within any of us.
Dr Terry Lynch, Sunday Tribune

A collection of short, thought-provoking and, at times, very moving reflections on life. And life's alternatives... Writing like this is a rare gift: the ease with which the thoughts are presented for the reader's benefit camouflages the strength of the writing.
Voice of Connemara

Few books nowadays seem to speak so personally and immediately to our human condition... Ann Henning Jocelyn writes out of a deep straightforward awareness of such matters.
Paul Britten Austin, Swedish Books

Her book reveals her as sensitive and courageous, compassionate and observant, but still in the process of growing and being healed... showing a profound belief in the significance, value and loveableness of human life... So much to savour in this book, to use for reflection on one's own life, and to assimilate into one's inner being...
Search Magazine

... brief lyrical texts on the human condition with a fine, unerring understanding of the nature of the soul... The author's warm-hearted openness and her genuine sympathy for other people's fortunes and misfortunes make this book very special: a gem you don't like to part with, yet immediately want to give away. With astounding sensitivity, the entire kaleidoscope of emotion is here gathered and passed on.
Nurtinger Zeitung

Ann Henning Jocelyn's Keylines... go straight to the heart... She manages the rare feat of describing feelings and making them credible without for a moment becoming sentimental... presenting the texts in a free lyrical form focusing directly on the significant... nothing is shrouded in mystery, all is clearly expressed... Full of wisdom... A treasure chest.
Frankfurter Neue Presse