Finding Home

"A pioneering member of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants who marked the symbolic beginning of a multicultural Britain." - The Guardian RAF Veteran and Prince's Trust Awardee, Alford Dalrymple Gardner was one of the last living passengers to have travelled on the Empire Windrush. Now published in paperback, Finding Home is his stirring life story. On 22nd June 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed from Kingston, Jamaica, to harbour at Tilbury Docks. It carried 1,027 passengers and two stowaways, and more than two thirds of them were West Indies nationals. Alford Dalrymple Gardner was among them. Alford's story traverses both the uplifting highs and intolerant lows that West Indian migrants of his generation encountered upon travelling to Britain to forge out a life. From joining the British military during World War II to being forcibly deported back to Jamaica once it was won-only to come back to the UK when the government decided it needed him again-Alford witnessed milestone events of the 20th century that shaped the country he still lives in today. In the context of a supposedly 'post-Imperial' Britain where the lives of West Indian migrants hang precariously on the whims of the Home Office, Alford's heartening testimony is a celebration of those who endured hardships so that generations to come could call this place home. Today, Alford's portrait is a part of the Royal Collection Trust as commissioned by King Charles III in 2023, and his story continues to embody for all, the spirit of joyous resilience.

"A pioneering member of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants who marked the symbolic beginning of a multicultural Britain." - The Guardian RAF Veteran and Prince's Trust Awardee, Alford Dalrymple Gardner was one of the last living passengers to have travelled on the Empire Windrush. Now published in paperback, Finding Home is his stirring life story. On 22nd June 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed from Kingston, Jamaica, to harbour at Tilbury Docks. It carried 1,027 passengers and two stowaways, and more than two thirds of them were West Indies nationals. Alford Dalrymple Gardner was among them. Alford's story traverses both the uplifting highs and intolerant lows that West Indian migrants of his generation encountered upon travelling to Britain to forge out a life. From joining the British military during World War II to being forcibly deported back to Jamaica once it was won-only to come back to the UK when the government decided it needed him again-Alford witnessed milestone events of the 20th century that shaped the country he still lives in today. In the context of a supposedly 'post-Imperial' Britain where the lives of West Indian migrants hang precariously on the whims of the Home Office, Alford's heartening testimony is a celebration of those who endured hardships so that generations to come could call this place home. Today, Alford's portrait is a part of the Royal Collection Trust as commissioned by King Charles III in 2023, and his story continues to embody for all, the spirit of joyous resilience.

Blair Andrews has spent the better part of her adulthood playing trophy wife to her politician husband in San Francisco. All she knows is her pampered, polished, perfect life. Until it all comes crashing down around her. After hiding out in her sister's spare bedroom for months to avoid pitying looks on the streets, she decides it's time to escape city life and learn to stand on her own. On a whim, Blair buys a tiny home in a small Wyoming town where she is certain her new neighbor, Griffin Barlow, can't stand her. He owns the local bar, is constantly covered in dirt from working on his family's ranch, and never smiles. Is he grumpy because she infiltrated his privacy when she moved onto the once quiet street? Or is there more to it than that? Blair has sworn off relationships, leaving the city behind to start fresh and find her independence. But in Bluestone Lakes, Wyoming, she's finding more than that. Maybe...she's finding home.