"The Apprentice" looks back on Alan Pearson's life from the age of 13 to twenty-one when he was growing up on Merseyside, England. His story is essentially true, but not in every detail. The author lets the flame of imagination flicker over those parts of the story that have become blanks in his memory. It is a novel of atmosphere and deals chiefly with the moulding of a personality and the creation of a few characters. It starts during the last two years of World War II, after moving from Sheffield to Wallasey, and covers the boy's attitude to the break-up of his parents' marriage and the man his mother lives with; the shipyard where he is apprenticed; and the people he meets and is influenced by. When Alan turns 17 he meets a young woman at the local ballroom but while he is instantly attracted to Molly, her feelings towards him are not as strong, so he tries to woo her. Meanwhile, he has a big decision to make concerning mandatory National Service. "The Apprentice" offers excellent insights into human nature and is filled with witty anecdotes, meaningful lines of poetry, and scenes that are truly heartrending.
About the Author: ALAN PEARSON was born in Yorkshire, England and moved to Merseyside where he graduated in marine engineering. Following National Service in the Merchant Navy he immigrated to Canada in 1944 with his wife Doreen. Although he started out in Montreal as a naval architect, Alan soon realized that he preferred writing to drawing. He turned freelance to write scripts for the National Film Board, and also to review books and interview writers and movie stars for The Montreal Star. After moving to Toronto in 1972, he did similar work for The Globe and Mail, and wrote business articles for the Financial Post. He went on to work in communications for both private and government sectors, ending with a full-time position with Workers' Compensation Board before retiring and moving to Huntsville, Ontario, where he died in 2012. Alan's passion was reading and writing poetry and prose. Encouraged by the celebrated poets, Irving Layton and Al Purdy, he published four books of poetry, one of which won a government poetry prize. He also published a novel with financial support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council. Doreen Pearson was Alan's wife for 60 years and it was a very close relationship. They went everywhere together, to Cuba and Mexico and even as far as Greece and Spain. Their son Steven was usually with them. When he was 49 he moved back in with them to help his mom take care of dad during his 9 year battle with cancer. Shortly before Alan died, Doreen asked Alan what she should do with several manuscripts in his filing cabinet. He told her that she should try to get them published but said she should first edit them. At Alan's request she started on his memoir and "The Apprentice" was first published as an Amazon Kindle book in September, 2015. Doreen has said that this project helped her get through her grieving period. "Alan wasn't able to continue his autobiography as he had wanted, but he left a travel memoir which describes some of the later years in his life. He also left a novel set in Spain. I would like to work on publishing these manuscripts for as long as my health holds out. While doing this, I feel he is very close and is guiding me; just like he did when he was alive."