Set in the cultural twilight between the conservative 1950s and the liberating sunshine of the late 1960s, Just a One Night Stand tells the emotive story of unmarried Marion McKenzie who, at nineteen, becomes pregnant during a drunken one night stand with Martin Corrigan, a Somerset farmer’s son. Unaware of his paternity, Martin goes up to Cambridge University.
Once she realises she is pregnant, Marion is forced to confess her plight to her fiancé, Simon Thompson. Furious at her infidelity and unwilling to father another man’s child, he gives her an ultimatum… him or the baby.
Too afraid of her divorced father’s reaction to confide in him, and unwilling to trust her mother not to tell him, Marion turns to her elder sister, Gemma. She reluctantly agrees to allow Marion to live with her in London until after the baby is born.
Marion plans to have her baby adopted - until he is born with a serious medical complication. What will Marion do?
Just a One Night Stand deftly propels the reader back to a time without extensive state support - a time characterised by entirely different social mores from liberal 21st century Britain.
For Marion, the 1960s were anything but swinging!
David Makinson was born in London in 1964. He now lives near Bolton in Lancashire with his wife, Chris and Giles, his son from his first marriage. Survivor of two complex childhood heart surgeries, David continues to tick off his list of ambitions, which so far has included flying a plane, building and riding motorcycles, dog-sledging in the Rockies, learning to play two musical instruments, tasting some of the world's finest wines and watching his son score three centuries at cricket. David sold his share of a business in 2008, enabling him to fulfil his greatest ambition - to write a novel. Just a One Night Stand is his debut novel.
Learn more at www.davidmakinson.com
Back in the side room, Marion was suffering the indignity of having her feet placed in the dreaded stirrups. The doctor peered between her exposed and trembling thighs as he held a cold stethoscope to her taut, swollen belly. Marion shut her eyes, forcing her tears through the closed lids. She felt so degraded, so alone.
‘It’s all quite necessary,’ said the Ward Sister. ‘We need to see how far dilated you are, to give us an idea of when your baby will arrive. It won’t take long.’ Silently she was thinking what a shame it was that these young girls didn’t suffer a similar bout of shyness before they managed to get themselves pregnant.
‘She’s barely dilated…’ said the doctor, straightening up. He addressed the Ward Sister, not Marion. ‘It will be several hours yet. It’s a pity these girls come in so early, quite unnecessary. Everything seems fine, though, the baby’s heart beat is steady, no sign of stress. Keep an eye on her and let nature take its course. Call me if you need me again, I’m on call all day.’