self-discovery

1793: France and Britain are at war. Traumatised and grieving the loss of her infant son, Eleanor Buccleuch leaves behind her previous life, dons waistcoat and breeches, and becomes Ned Buckley. Ned enlists in the British army and vanishes amongst the soldiers of the 69th Regiment of Foot.Sent to the Mediterranean, Ned is pulled out of his squad and assigned to work with a zealous Royal Navy captain named Horatio Nelson, who is goading the army to besiege the Corsican town of Bastia.

In the 1980s, I was a teenager trying to find my place in the world. Poetry was one of my coping mechanisms. In love: I hoped. I dreamed. I imagined. I experienced. In life: I struggled. I hated. I cried for help. I hoped. I overcame. I could be complex. I could be simple. I could be powerful. Misunderstood. Frustrated. In other words: A confused teenager using words to help cope. There was often beauty in that.

This is the story of a confident young girl who became a lost teenager, wanted to disappear, started to find herself, discovered love, was wild, reckless, and confused, but ultimately found a way to be okay. Told in her words as she lived them through her diaries, journals, poetry, and letters.

A love story of self, of past, of present, of future. One woman’s journey to put the pieces of her life together in the most meaningful way — at times chaotic, at times cathartic, but ultimately beautiful in all its imperfect pieces.

From a talking pigeon to a mirror that sees all, Notes on the Train brings you closer to the author’s struggle with depression and change through the landscape of life. Not all battles are fought with weapons of war. Some battles rage within the mind and soul and take no prisoners. This book is a collection of poems and prose written by the author on her journey of self-discovery.