As a boy, Nathan Penlington had loved Choose Your Own Adventures, the literary phenomenon of the 1980s which thrust the reader into the role of main character and compelled them to make decisions and direct the flow of the story. So, when he discovered a job lot of the first 106 adventures for sale on eBay, there was never any question that he would place a bid. When the books arrived, he lost himself in the old adventures.
Yet, as he flicked through the pages, there was another story being written - for, in the margins of each book, were the scribblings of the little boy who had once owned them, a little boy by the name of Terence John Prendergast. In the margins of the books, Terence wrote jokes, hints for adventurers following the same stories as him - and, more troubling still, intimations of a tormented childhood: of the boys and teachers who had bullied him; of the things he hated about himself and had to improve; of his thoughts of suicide and his desperate need to find friends, be liked, and find somebody - anybody - to confide in.
THE BOY IN THE BOOK is Nathan's poignant recreation of the discovery of the fragments of Terence Prendergast's diary, his quest to find the lost boy, and the friendship that resulted from their first meeting. In doing so, Nathan is forced to examine his own childhood - and, as his relationship with Terence deepens, he begins to believe that the two men are not so different, and to reflect on the darkness that can exist in childhood.
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As a boy, Nathan Penlington had loved Choose Your Own Adventures, the literary phenomenon of the 1980s which thrust the reader into the role of main character and compelled them to make decisions and direct the flow of the story. So, when he discovered a job lot of the first 106 adventures for sale on eBay, there was never any question that he would place a bid. When the books arrived, he lost himself in the old adventures.
Yet, as he flicked through the pages, there was another story being written - for, in the margins of each book, were the scribblings of the little boy who had once owned them, a little boy by the name of Terence John Prendergast. In the margins of the books, Terence wrote jokes, hints for adventurers following the same stories as him - and, more troubling still, intimations of a tormented childhood: of the boys and teachers who had bullied him; of the things he hated about himself and had to improve; of his thoughts of suicide and his desperate need to find friends, be liked, and find somebody - anybody - to confide in.
THE BOY IN THE BOOK is Nathan's poignant recreation of the discovery of the fragments of Terence Prendergast's diary, his quest to find the lost boy, and the friendship that resulted from their first meeting. In doing so, Nathan is forced to examine his own childhood - and, as his relationship with Terence deepens, he begins to believe that the two men are not so different, and to reflect on the darkness that can exist in childhood.
DEATH BY THE SEA by Vera Morris, read by Antonia Beamish - audiobook extract 2
Headline Books
1 minute 40 seconds
1 year ago
DEATH BY THE SEA by Vera Morris, read by Antonia Beamish - audiobook extract 2
Vera Morris returns with the sixth instalment in her much-loved Anglian Detective Agency Series.
THE ANGLIAN DETECTIVE AGENCY ARE BACK!
Thorpeness, 1973. Wrongly exiled from London, Judge Neville Hanmer sought solace and a quiet life on the Suffolk coast. But then a face from the past unexpectedly resurfaces and he turns to The Anglian Detective Agency for help.
Laurel, Frank, and the rest of the team are busier than ever trying to solve the mysterious theft of rare plants from Yoxford Hall Gardens. But when Judge Hanmer doesn't show for their meeting, they find themselves embroiled in yet another case - one that will take them to darker places than they've ever been before.
With Laurel and Frank's relationship see-sawing out of control, can the team uncover the truth before it's too late? Or will a depraved killer succeed, and separate Laurel and Frank forever?
Headline Books
As a boy, Nathan Penlington had loved Choose Your Own Adventures, the literary phenomenon of the 1980s which thrust the reader into the role of main character and compelled them to make decisions and direct the flow of the story. So, when he discovered a job lot of the first 106 adventures for sale on eBay, there was never any question that he would place a bid. When the books arrived, he lost himself in the old adventures.
Yet, as he flicked through the pages, there was another story being written - for, in the margins of each book, were the scribblings of the little boy who had once owned them, a little boy by the name of Terence John Prendergast. In the margins of the books, Terence wrote jokes, hints for adventurers following the same stories as him - and, more troubling still, intimations of a tormented childhood: of the boys and teachers who had bullied him; of the things he hated about himself and had to improve; of his thoughts of suicide and his desperate need to find friends, be liked, and find somebody - anybody - to confide in.
THE BOY IN THE BOOK is Nathan's poignant recreation of the discovery of the fragments of Terence Prendergast's diary, his quest to find the lost boy, and the friendship that resulted from their first meeting. In doing so, Nathan is forced to examine his own childhood - and, as his relationship with Terence deepens, he begins to believe that the two men are not so different, and to reflect on the darkness that can exist in childhood.
