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Academic's passage to India produces a novel

20 Oct 2014

Dr Jillian McCarthy from MBS is about to have her fictionalised account of a trip to India published under the pen name of Jillain McKay

Jill McKay

Jill, who is Senior Lecturer in Health Management and Deputy Director of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson MSc Leading Care II, wrote Nestled Amongst Temples following a six-month trip to India.

The novel chronicles the narrator's career break in India, after being cajoled by her daughter to join her there to help launch a fashion design business. Settling in a small house in an Indian suburb, the two women become a source of great amusement to their neighbours, who are both fascinated and bemused by their strange antics and puzzling behaviour.

Nestled Amongst Temples not only gives the reader a clear insight into Indian life as viewed through the eyes of a Westerner, but also a glimpse of Western life as seen through Indian eyes. Both lenses offer glimmers of hilarity, humanity and hope.

Due to be published at the beginning of November, the novel will be available in paperback and e-book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and Kobo Books.

Jill said: "I'm delighted to have my first novel Nestled Amongst Temples published next month. It's an account of a six month career break spent in India with my youngest daughter and the adventures that beset us and characters we met along the way. Although it is sort of autobiographical, I haven't let truth get in the way of a good tale, so there are elements of stretching the truth in places. 

"It was really enjoyable writing for this type of genre and made a pleasant change from the more formal structure and style of academic writing. "

You can follow Jill's work at: