USEFUL IDIOTS - Hardcover

Mark, Jan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385604130 ISBN 13: 9780385604130

Publisher: David Fickling Books, 2004

Synopsis

Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or a carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. The mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure-' Francis BaconSet in a highly realistic dystopic future, where the lowlands of Britain are flooded, this beautifully-realised novel explores a world where archaeology is banned for fear of social unrest. One bleak morning, a storm across the North Sea unveils a human skull, which is to precipitate a series of events that changes the lives of those involved. And it is the Inglish, a remnant tribe eking out an existence on the edge of Europe, who will be affected the most. This is a compelling vision of England as it might be in the not-so-distant future.

About this title

About the Author

Jan Mark was born in Welwyn, Herts in 1943. She grew up in Ashford, Kent and attended Canterbury College of Art. She taught in a secondary school in Gravesend for six years, before becoming a full-time writer. Her book THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Whitbread Children's Award. She has won the Carnegie Medal twice, for THUNDER AND LIGHTNINGS and HANDLES.

From the Back Cover

'In Nottamun Town not a soul to be seen,
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down
To show me the way to Nottamun Town.'

The Rhine Islands, 2255

The mass of land previously known as the United Kingdom has been eroded by climate change, and the east of the Islands possessed by the sea.

And it is not only physical history that is vanishing: the cultural past is also being erased from human consciousness. Archaeology has become the 'lost; science - it is blamed for stirring up cultural differences and provoking nationalism - and the authorities believe the study of history and the past can only be safe as long as it is controlled by themselves.

So when a violent storm across the North Sea unveils an undated human skull on Parizo beach in the east of the Islands, a profoundly delicate moral dilemma is also revealed. And it is into this politically explosive environment that the unassuming Merrick, a young graduate, finds himself thrown.

He is led to a group of Aboriginal people who inhabit the marshes near Parizo beach - and his extraordinary meeting with them results in a bizarre and painful experiment.

This is a thrilling novel from an award-winning author. You will rarely read anything so imaginative or absorbing.

Edition details

• Publisher: David Fickling Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0385604130
• ISBN 13: 9780385604130
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416