Eastbourne as you have never seen it, and would never wish to. Henry Wagstaff lives in the flat above his first-floor neighbours. They meet every Friday afternoon to play Scrabble. The initial impression of their lives in Eastbourne on the south coast of England is one of contentment, over a crucial period for the nation between the 24th of June 2016, the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union, and the 29th of March 2019, by which day it should have left and did not. But their shared and combined lives are in parallel with a world of dystopia, under the yoke of foreign and religious domination, during which a long past overseas work experience returns to haunt Henry. The time sequence is the same but now it identifies as taking place between the months of Ramadan 1437 and Rajab 1440. Throughout both time sequences the threesome continues to play Scrabble once a week. Letter Boxes Are Red is the story of their parallel lives.

Edward Thomas was born near Uxbridge in 1943 and grew up mainly in Hackney, east London in the 1950s. His teaching career took him to central Africa and the Middle East.Early retirement from the profession enabled him to concentrate on writing. Along with authorship of half a dozen books, he has contributed regular columns to several journals.