Jillain McKay releases debut novel

Nestled Amongst Temples

Jillain McKay is set to release her first novel, Nestled Amongst Temples.

Jillain, who has previously written a number of academic books, decided to write the book after spending time in India with her daughter.

She said: “I was cajoled by my daughter to join her in India. She was launching a fashion business over there so I took a bit of a career break and went over there and did some travelling. When I got back I looked through my notes and things and thought why not write a book about my travels and that is what I did.”

Although born and brought up in the North West of England, Jillain has lived in New York as well as India and is due to move to Whitworth in the coming weeks.

She holds a Doctorate in Education and works full time as a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester and has been employed in academia for over twenty years.

Jillain has written a number of academic books before writing this book.

“This isn’t my first book as such because I have written a number of academic books. Writing this book was a lot more pleasurable than writing academic books. With academic books everything has to be referenced and can often feel dry so this experience was very pleasurable,” said Jillain.

Nestled Amongst Temples is described as a “funny, poignant story with undertones of self discovery as trials and tribulations are met along the way”.

Jillain added: “I think readers of this book will get a real flavour of India. Living in a small house within an Indian suburb, my daughter and I became a source of great amusement to the locals as they seemed bemused by two western women with strange antics and puzzling behaviour.”

The book will be available as an e-book and in paperback in November.