The idea for writing Transgression came about as a result of the original revelations about Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall.  A writer’s friend is accused of being a paedophile. In this brief extract, the writer discusses the prospect with his partner.

“You’re very quiet,” Connie said.

“I was just thinking about what Sally said. You know, that if her father was much older than Madge he was probably a paedo who couldn’t stop himself, that there are probably other victims out there.”

“Like all those women who came forward after Jimmy Savile was outed?”

“I suppose, yes. And then all those others came to light. Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, DLT – although some of the accusations have not stood up to the rigours of a court examination.”

“Much as I dislike him, I would not go as far as to suspect Douglas of paedophilia. You’ve known him all your life, surely you’d know if he was like that?”

“I wonder how many of Rolf Harris’s closest friends knew about his dalliances with young women.”

“Perhaps they knew and turned a blind eye. I often wonder if the laissez-fair attitudes that prevailed in the seventies and eighties made some of those things inevitable. I would never have said so at the time, but that is just the point, people were breaking free of the Victorian notions that had dominated for generations. Anyone who expressed fears about where it was leading was viewed as a spoil-sport.”