A beautifully written story of secrets, lies, grief and, ultimately, redemption, charmingly
handled by this very promising new writer. (Joanne Harris )
Jane Davis's beautifully written debut is a worthy winner of the Daily Mail/Transworld First
Novel Award. There is nothing of the novice about her technique, which shows all
the confidence of a natural-born writer. (John Harding, Daily Mail)
This is a thought-provoking and beautifully crafted novel that will keep you
entralled until the very last page. (The People's Friend)
As Streatham, South London, still reels from the riots in neighbouring Brixton,
Graham Jones, an ordinary father, grows fearful for his teenage daughter Judy
who faces a world where the pace of change appears to be accelerating. But even
he cannot predict what will happen next. A series of events is about to be unleashed over which he will have no control, and the lives of his family will change forever. When Judy claims to be seeing visions he will call it a miracle, and, to his wife’s horror, the hungry press will label their daughter ‘The Miracle Girl.’ Elaine, present when she came close to losing her daughter a first time - knowing it was the paramedics and surgeons who saved her - will demand a medical explanation. But Judy, refusing to become caught in this emotional tug-of-war, is adamant. She must tread her own path, wherever it takes her.
Delusion, deception, diabolic…or is it just possible that Judy’s apparitions are authentic?
‘A brilliantly imaginative and quirkily fresh take on the world. Brimful of originality and creativity.’ The Literary Consultancy
‘An elegant and understated prose style with a very satisfying rhythm. This is really very good writing indeed.’ Debi Alper
‘Leaves one panting to read more.’ Jill Foulston
“Can you think of a really good memory? Perhaps you can see it when you close
your eyes. Now, imagine you could take it out and look at it whenever you wanted
to!” Turn of the century Brighton. A spark is ignited when wide-eyed Lottie Pye
enters Mr Parker’s photographic studio and discovers the new medium that will
shape her life, becoming a passion.
2009: Disgraced politician Sir James Hastings has resigned himself to living out his retirement in a secluded Surrey village. He doesn’t react when he learns that the mother who abandoned him as a baby has died at the age of 108: he presumed she had died many years ago. Brought up by his father, a charismatic war-hero turned racing driver, young James, torn between self-blame and longing, eventually dismissed her as the
‘villain’ of his childhood. But, when he inherits her life’s work - a photography collection spanning over six decades - he is forced to confront his past. Assisted by student Jenny Jones, who has recently lost her own mother to cancer, Sir James is persuaded to look at the photographs as if he is seeing through his mother’s eyes. And there he discovers an extraordinary tale of courage and sacrifice.
“Three. I have three stories,” Lottie tells her solicitor while putting her affairs in order. “But it was Oscar Wilde who said that a story is almost certainly a lie.”
‘A classy and engaging novel’ - Hilary Johnson
