A PRECIOUS jewel bought at Bolton’s old market mall has provided the inspiration for a hairdresser-turned-author’s first novel.

Lawrence Bell made his literary debut two years ago with Shiny Scissors, a collection of short stories based on customers.

And now the retired 65-year-old, who ran Lawrence’s Barbers, in Mortfield Lane, off Chorley Old Road for 30 years, has written another, but totally different book.

Entitled Pavel’s Gift, the novel begins in 19th century Russia and follows the trials of a family and a piece of lost Russian jewellery all the way through to the present day.

The book encompasses the Romanov dynasty, The House of Faberge and the Russian revolution in its tale of ‘intrigue, romance and murder’.

But, despite the continent-spanning scale of the story, its beginnings can be traced all the way back to Bolton.

Mr Bell said: “We have a family heirloom that’s an opel, and that’s the hook of the story.

“I go it from a jeweller’s in the old market hall in Bolton about 30 years ago.

“I’ve always been fascinated with precious stones, the Russian Royal House and Faberge Eggs.

“I’ve been interested in it for years and a lot of research has gone into the book to make it authentic.”

The monumental events of the previous two centuries provides much of the background against which the story unfolds.

The father-of-two, who grew up in Deane, said: “I’ve always taken an interest in history, the two world wars, the invasion of Europe and how Romanov was treated was treated, even by our own royal family.

“I’ve no Russian ancestry – I’ve not even been there – but I’ve always had a fascination with the Russian Royal Eggs, all that era, the jewellery Faberge made and what happened to Faberge after the revolution.”

And while Shiny Scissors was a collection of stories, Pavel’s Gift is an ambitious novel, whose scope defies categorisation.

Mr Bell added: “All the stories intertwine and it deals with two families that came together and it’s mixed in with politics.

“And there’s romance, as well as violence which comes with the times.”

The father-of-two wrote stories for his own pleasure before a friend told him they were so good they should be published.

And he says the positive reaction to Shiny Scissors gave him the confidence and self-belief to embark on penning Pavel’s Gift’s 593 pages.

He said: “It opened the door. Once I’d written that book it opened the door and I realised how much I enjoyed writing.

“I have just retired to continue writing and I’ve now on the beginning of a third book which starts off in Poland in World War Two.”

Despite the springboard the success of Shiny Scissors gave him, Mr Bell says he ‘doesn’t have a clue’ how many copies it sold, or how much money it made.

“If you are writing for money you are wasting your time, you have to write for yourself and the love of it,” he said.

“The most wonderful thing is when people come up to you and say ‘Lawrence, I’ve read your book, it was brilliant. I get a really good kick out of that. That’s the true reward in itself.”

Reaction to Pavel’s Gift has already been favourable, attracting a five-star rating on Amazon and reader reviews which describe it as ‘a fantastic story’ and ‘a really interesting and captivating read’.

Another says the book is ‘hard to put down’ adding ‘I honestly think that a film should be made about this book’.

Pavel’s Gift is published by Spiderwize and is available as a paperback or an e-book for Kindle.

For more details visit spiderwize.com or search for Pavel’s Gift on Amazon.