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Parents ran one of the best known fashion shops in the area

A talented writer - whose parents ran one of the best known fashion shops in the area - has published his first book.

Robbie Book who has had his first book published at the age of 79. | ugc

placeholder image — Robbie Book who has had his first book published at the age of 79. | ugc

Debut author Robbie Book, who grew up in Sunderland ‘when it was still a major shipbuilding town’, has used his memories as inspiration for a 425-page novel called Noah’s Pact which he wrote in collaboration with fellow author Keith Tutt.

Robbie’s mother Gertie was born and grew up on Ocean Road in South Shields and his grandfather had Glassburg’s shop in Fowler Street.

Hymie and Gertie Book - behind the scenes at Books Fashions. | se

Books Fashions was in the heart of the city centre in Sunderland and, although it was demolished in the early 1990s, it still brings back fond memories for many shoppers.

The new book Noah’s Pact is set in the first half of the 20th century and its main character is a young boy who has become an orphan after the 1912 Titanic disaster, but is adopted into a family called Gold.

Books Fashions Store faced demolition in 1991 but it was popular in its heyday. | se

Robbie told the Sunderland Echo: “It is really a distillation of some of my own experiences growing up in Sunderland when it was still a major shipbuilding town. Of course I have turned it all into a much more exciting historical mystery thriller.”

The orphan reference, said Robbie, ‘is based on the time when my family adopted a young Czech refugee during the Second World War. There are lots of parallels like this in the book, although any murders have been made up!”

Keith Tutt who is the co-author of the new book called Noah's Pact. | ugc

He added: “The North East of England is really the unsung hero of the story. The people of Sunderland were the centre of my life and my parents’ business (Books Fashions) formed the platform for many innovative methods to ensure that their own lives and those of the colliery folk were at least bearable during the horrifying years of the Blitz.”

The front cover of the new book by Robbie Book with collaboration from Keith Tutt. | other 3rd party

Robbie told us of another huge link that his family has to the shipbuilding industry ‘and the building of submarines that happens in Noah’s Pact.

“My father worked on the insulation of the submarines manufactured in the docks throughout the war. At that time my mother went back and forth to the clothing factories in London replenishing stock and giving a semblance of normality to an otherwise perilous existence. Keeping the town linked with the colliery villages - despite the petrol and clothes rationing - became her absolute priority.”

Robbie explained his own background and said: “I was the only person in the family not involved in the world of fashion, preferring a life of adventure in Africa and other foreign parts (many of which appear in the book).

“My amazing sister Karol still runs a hugely successful clothes shop in London with her daughters. She’s kept that going for over 50 years and Noah’s Pact is dedicated to my dear sister.

Noah’s Pact is available from Amazon at £15.99 in paperback or £7.99 on Kindle, or from Robbie’s website at www.booksbooks.org