Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor was born in Dudley and educated at Dudley Grammar School and the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts.

He has been a songwriter and performer with the popular recording group Herbie’s People, a widely published photographer and, since 1990, a successful businessman.

He lives in South Staffordshire with his wife and family.

Books

Linden Woods

In 1937, with the country preparing for impending war, eighteen-year-old Linden Woods finds employment as a junior secretary at a Black Country steelworks, where she befriends the charismatic and liberated Penny, daughter of wealthy steel magnate Charles Burgayne.

Salt Of The Earth

England, 1860, the Crimean War has just ended and it is the age of the steam engine. The railway is king – a state of the art network opening up the country for trade, and allowing people freedom of movement for the first time. People are no longer tied to their place of birth, but can go in search of new lives and new loves as they see fit.

Poppy Silk

Poppy Silk opens with a near-riot in the Wheatsheaf tavern, as the navvies from the nearby ironworks, fuelled by alcohol, march on the gaol to free a popular ganger, a navvy foreman, from the cells.

Heart's Desire

Rhianna Drake feels her youth slipping away, looking after her drunken and feckless father, Titus. Offered a position as a domestic, she meets the charming and handsome Lawson Maddox, who shocks the genteel society by marrying beneath him.

Clover

Clover is surprised when her mother announces that after fifteen years of widowhood she is about to be married to a younger man. All at once, Clover finds herself with not only a new 'Pop', Jake Tandy, but a pretty new stepsister, Ramona, as well.

Love Songs

Maxine - the talented musician of the Kite family - is overjoyed to land a job as cellist with Birmingham's prestigious orchestra. But Brent Shackleton, an intriguing fellow musician, introduces Maxine to the world of jazz. Soon, she is the star of his band, playing piano and singing.

The Love Match

Henzey Kite think she’s found the perfect man when she meets Billy Witts. Handsome, ambitious and successful, Billy seems to have everything the local boys from Dudley can’t give her.