Alan London's debut story "The Days of Wine and Horses"

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 15, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alan London has published The Days of Wine and Horses, a collection of fictional short stories set in the Yorkshire Dales. The book, independently published on June 5, 2026, in both hardcover and paperback formats, follows the working lives of those engaged in the equestrian world through narrative fiction centered on a small country riding school.

London was born in the south of England. He was still a child when his father's work took the family north to Yorkshire, where he grew up around the world of riding yards and stables. Family expectations and economic necessity later led him into a settled profession, and for much of that time, like many people balancing work and obligation, he held down two jobs at once. What he learned and observed during those years, about stable routines, difficult horses, and the rhythms of a small rural economy, has informed the collection.

The stories themselves, however, are invented. The Days of Wine and Horses is a work of fiction, not autobiography, and readers should not assume its characters or events reflect London's own life.

Readers have described the collection as reminiscent of James Herriot's beloved Yorkshire novels, a comparison London did not set out to invite but has been glad to see readers make. Like Herriot's work, the book finds its warmth in ordinary rural life: quaint, often humorous, and steeped in a nostalgia for a slower, gentler way of living.

The collection takes its title from "Vitae Summa Brevis," an 1896 poem by Ernest Dowson, better known by its opening phrase, "the days of wine and roses." Dowson's meditation on transience and the loss of cherished moments has been adapted here to the context of working life with horses. The good years with a horse, like any meaningful period in life, prove fleeter than one might wish.

The Days of Wine and Horses presents a fond, often humorous look at daily stable life, yard routines, the challenges of animal management, and the small rural economy that sustains this way of living, centered on a riding school and the characters who pass through it. It is less a plotted narrative than a stroll back through a Yorkshire country life many readers will recognize, or wish they had known.

All proceeds from the book will support Cancer Research, a cause that holds personal significance for London and his late wife, Maureen.

About the Author

Alan London was born in the south of England, though he was only a child when his father's work took the family north to Yorkshire. Growing up in the Dales, he spent time around riding yards alongside the more settled profession that family circumstances led him toward; for years, like many people managing work and obligation, he held down two jobs at once. He now lives in Southern California, where this collection was written.

The Days of Wine and Horses draws on that early familiarity with stable life and rural horsemanship, but it is a work of fiction, not a record of London's own experience. Its characters and stories are invented.

Publication Details
Title: The Days of Wine and Horses
Author: Alan London
Publisher: Independently published
Publication Date: June 5, 2026
Length: 301 pages

Formats & ISBNs:
• Hardcover: 979-8-1989611-8-0
• Paperback: 979-8-1989624-9-1

Availability: The book is available through major retailers. Readers interested in sampling the work can access a preview at: https://read.amazon.com/sample/B0H4S9DFR7?clientId=share

Contact Details:
Name: Alan London
Email: [email protected]
Publisher: Cambridge Publishing House

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