Book description
Kate and her father go to live close to her mother's grave near her
childhood home A vagabond tells her a tale of this place: of a
massacre in religion's name, of rape, torture and murder; a tale that
comes alive in the telling as its victims rise up to engulf Kate as
she finds herself the unwilling medium through which they will have
their revenge. When her mother dies, 18-year-old Kate and her father
bury her in a place beloved of her childhood and go to live in a
cottage close by. Kate meets a one-eyed vagabond who tells her the
Elizabethan history of the neighbouring great house: of a massacre in
the name of religion, of imprisonment, rape, torture and murder. It is
a tale that comes alive in the telling as its victims rise up in
vengeance to engulf Kate and all around her. Kate finds herself the
unwilling medium through which they will have their revenge upon the
descendants of the perpetrators of their suffering. This is the tale
of the haunting, in modern times, of a girl by a ghost exactly
resembling her own dead mother. Encountering this ghost imprisoned in
the East wing of the Great House, a wing long-since rebuilt after a
fire in Elizabethan times, Kate is gradually compelled to unravel the
terrible story of this place. Through the Tales of Shabby Tattler,
that one-eyed vagabond whose power of description seems to bring to
life those he depicts, Kate is drawn into a past in which she finds
herself a living victim, trapped by circumstance and helpless to alter
the terrifying unfolding of events. It is the first in a trilogy of
tales through which, in a 'Danse Macabre' moves the dark enigmatic
figure of the 'Shabby Tattler', the cunning man. Tale-teller and
myth-maker is he, or puppet-master of these strange plays, conjuring
appearances and disappearances, scenes of tragedy and comedy:
manipulator of souls with strings invisible? 'The Toadman' forms the
second part and 'Reprise' the third. Based upon a Greek legend, its
Elizabethan setting is only loosely historical inasmuch as its purpose
is far from attempting to depict the life of that era.
The
Flights of Birds, told in 61 chapters. The addendum, 'Daisy Chain' is
a love story' written by the fictional character, General Peregrine
Tercel. Author's notes on the myth upon which it is based and other
matters concerning the genesis of the story
Born: three degrees and eight minutes North; one hundred and one
degrees and forty two minutes East; in eighty degrees Fahrenheit; twenty
two inches length; eight pounds 4 ounces weight; two hours and forty
minutes past midnight. Schooling (tropical): mountain-top; sandy beach;
(temperate) woodland prep; shire public; city poly; AA. Careers:
multifarious before arriving at the decision to write and illustrate
fictions less ordinary than his own life.
