Ruth, working at an Art Gallery in Boston, is curating a new exhibition of work by her distant English cousin, Greg. He is about to arrive for the launch, the first time they will have met since her visit to him five years previously, when she had experienced a re-awakening of her former adolescent crush. She believes that is now all behind her: she is happily married, and she and Rick, her husband, are planning to start a family. Greg’s news on his arrival, however, concerning the state of his own marriage, sends shock waves through her. What if Greg becomes ‘available’? What of her commitment to Rick? And is Greg developing a romantic interest in one of Ruth’s colleagues?

With support from her two oldest friends, Ruth struggles with jealousy, loyalty and desire in this concluding novella of the These Years trilogy about the lasting impact of a crush.

R.N.F. (RICHARD) SKINNER, a Londoner by upbringing, has lived in Exeter for many years. As ‘Richard Skinner’ he has published several collections of poetry, and three works of fiction published by SilverWood: a novel, Still Crazy… (2020), a collection of short stories and comedy sketches, After All… (2022), and the novellas These Years: 1973 (2024) and These Years: 1986 (2025) to which the current work is the culminating sequel. He has also composed lyrics for a range of songs including the Christmas musical Bethlehem! written jointly with the composer Nigel Walsh.

A member of the famous Footlights club while a science undergraduate at Cambridge University, he also co-founded and performed extensively with the cabaret-revue team Seventh Sense. He has a doctorate from Exeter University for his thesis on religion and evolutionary theory, and has worked variously as a library assistant, a psychiatric nurse, a social worker, and a family therapist, from all of which employments he has long since stepped down. He continues, however, to write and perform sketch-based comedy, and lives contentedly with his wonderful wife, an eager dog, an affectionate cat, and two inquisitive hens.

For further information about his books please visit his website at rnfskinner.com or contact him at richardskinner.exeter@gmail.com.

Commendations for the first two in the series:

TY1973
"a compelling and fascinating read… [the author’s] treatment of the raw, often confused emotions of a girl on the cusp of her teenage years is deft, elegant, and exquisitely articulate.”
(Professor T. A. Unwin)

"Ruth is a believable and sensitive depiction of adolescent emotion… a heartwarming and compassionate portrayal of a familiar family dynamic, infused with humour and care.”
(Exeter Today)

TY1986
"… compelling, intense, funny, beautiful, heartbreaking, deeply human, forensic in its exploration of emotions – emotions that swirl and eddy, most of them not quite what they seem to be, and in any case changing before our eyes as we (and the characters) work them out…”
(Professor T. A. Unwin, writing as ‘The Other Abbey Road’).

"Captures the characters and emotions of the protagonists effectively and describes the positive and negative passions felt in a way that stirs the reader's emotions too. I can't wait for [These Years:] 1991.”
(Gordon R Clarke, author of ‘Someone Else’s Gods’ and ‘The Abyss of Possibility’)