Doll (13 page)
Authors: Nicky Singer
Many people helped make this book. I particularly thank those brave enough to share personal or family stories of alcoholism and self-harm: notably Justina, Lea, Deano, and my own sister, Jane. Dr Hugh Williams was a generous and informative guide on the Substance Misuse Service (any errors are mine) and I’m particularly grateful to the patients of the Westbourne Hospital for their honesty and their trust.
I pay tribute to all those who spoke to me of adoption, especially Vanessa Gebby, Alex Boyd and my dreamer of dreams, Tom Russell. I learned from all of them.
I’m grateful to Gary Stewart, who knows more about markets than most, and to Richard Curd who allowed me to prowl round his excellent Brighton restaurant Richard’s Brasserie. Any dried sea-sponges or blood-letting are entirely my own invention.
I thank teenagers Charlotte Goodman and Laura Hopkins: Charlotte for advice on teenage girls and Laura for reading the manuscript for neanderthal expressions.
I thank, as always, my agent Clare Conville, who makes my life happy.
Lastly I send a big hug to Gillie Russell, Publishing Director at HarperCollins. She knows what she did. Thank you, Gillie.
Nicky Singer was born in 1956 and has worked in publishing, the arts and television. She began her writing career at the age of 15, with lyrics for a cantata
Jonah and the Whale
, and has since written four adult novels –
To Still a Child, To Have and to Hold, What She Wanted and Her Mother’s Daughter
–
and two works of non-fiction
–
The Tiny Book of Time
(with Kim Pickin) and
The Little Book of the Millennium
(with Jackie Singer). Her first children’s book,
Feather Boy
, won the Blue Peter Children’s Book Award and has sold in eighteen countries. She was co-founder and co-director (1987–1996) of Performing Arts Labs, a charity dedicated to training new writers for theatre, screen and opera. In 1995 she presented BBC2’s highly acclaimed documentary series on women’s fertility,
Labours of Eve
, and wrote the preface to the book which accompanied the series. Nicky Singer lives in Brighton with her husband, their two sons and a daughter.
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“Cleverly and economically written, this witty, observant and moving book is a comic and contemporary drama about courage, love, memory and the power of stories.”
Sunday Times
“feather boy
is the most intelligent book for youngsters I’ve read for a very long time. Every 12-year-old will see a bit of themself in Robert and won’t be able to put this book down until
feather boy
‘s emotional, thought-provoking climax. Fabulous.”
Funday Times
“feather boy is
more than just a story about Bullying. It’s bigger than that. It’s about finding your voice, shouting from the rooftops about something you believe in, refusing to back down, never giving up. It’s enormously uplifting.”
John McLay
“feather boy
is simply fabulous…an emotionally intense suspense novel of the highest order.”
Michael Thorn, Achuka
“If you only read one book this year, choose
feather boy
, for its memorable portraits of youth and age, its taut plot and, above all, its emotional ring of truth.”
Jenny Morris, Lion & Unicorn bookshop
“Powerful and inspiring.”
Financial Times
“A joy to read…A fascinating, emotional and captivating book that deserves wide recognition.”
Sheila Wood, Books for Students
“Something unique and special.”
Tara Stephenson, Waterstone’s
Feather Boy
First published in Great Britain by CollinsFlamingo 2003
HarperCollins Children's Books
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
77–85 Fulham Palace Road,
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
Text copyright © Nicky Singer 2002
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
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EPub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780007381982
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