‘The Dogs are Curling Up Again’ gets a new marketing push this 2023
A Chilean refugee in search of her identity discovers her beautiful country of extremes and its shadowy politics
BATH, England – Margaret H. Townley’s “The Dogs are Curling Up Again” (published by Balboa Press UK) — recipient of the 2023 BookFest Book Awards and 2023 Indies Today Award — is set for a new press campaign this year.
This love story set against the turbulent background of 1990s Chile follows the journey of a young exile as she discovers her beautiful country of extremes, her identity, her political role, her love and her future path. Political refugee Isabel returns to Chile, searching for the country she once knew, after years of feeling an outsider as an exile in the U.K. Finding transition back to democracy impossible with the constitution imposed by the dictator and the country deeply divided, she embarks on activism and film making to spread her message of the need for change. Her new Chilean lover supports her work but her English partner goes in search of her, fearing for her safety. Now, she is desperately torn between the two and where her future should be.
“Readers will find empathy with the character of Isabel and be interested to know what she will finally decide and what happens to her,” Townley says. “The story may challenge readers’ own search for self-identity and values. Set within a different culture with literary references to poetry, literature, art, music, history and geography, the book will open new doors to many readers in English. Fascinating glimpses of the political turmoil will appeal to those interested in world politics and current affairs, from which there may be lessons relevant to their own societies. Those who enjoy historical novels set within real historical events, might imagine themselves living in that time and place and question what they might have done within the presenting dilemmas.”
When asked what she wants readers to take away from the novel, the author answers, “We cannot be politically neutral – we have to consciously take sides and be committed to political action or we are in danger of unconsciously aiding an unethical force. Isabel’s personal emotional development has been inhibited by the losses she suffered because of the military coup and its brutal repression. She learns through experience and pain, the need to give herself fully in a relationship, rather than letting fear and mistrust inhibit her commitment. Her journey through Chile is a journey of discovery of her own identity.
“The Dogs are Curling Up Again”
By Margaret H. Townley
Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 430 pages | ISBN 9781982286385
E-Book | 430 pages | ISBN 9781982286392
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Margaret H. Townley graduated from Edinburgh University with a master’s degree in politics, after which she commenced a social work career, first in Scotland and later in Nottingham, England. She then gained a post-graduate social work qualification at Nottingham Trent University. Her voluntary work led her to assist in the rehousing of Chilean refugees through Shelter, a housing charity, and through Amnesty International, she met a number of Chilean refugees. She came to know the music of the New Chilean Song Movement when the groups were banned in Chile but in exile, they were keeping alive their music throughout Europe and the western world in protest against the dictatorship in Chile. As a mature student, Townley studied part-time for a degree in Hispanic and Latin American Studies, while continuing to work as a social worker, managing a preventative project, which she had had the opportunity to create through Action for Children. She has two sons and four grandchildren, two of whom are now teenagers and two are at primary school. She spent two years in Chile in the late 1990s and on her return to the U.K., she moved into social work training before retiring. Townley had long wanted to write up the diary she kept whilst in Chile and has finally worked it all, and more, into this political novel.
Balboa Press UK is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body and spirit genre. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.co.uk/ or call 0-800-014-8647.