Astonishing Splashes Of Colour - Softcover

Clare Morrall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0954130324 ISBN 13: 9780954130329

Publisher: Tindal Street Press, 2003

Synopsis

When is the right time to tell someone they're not who they think they are?Caught in an over-vivid world, Kitty is tipped off-centre by the loss of her 'child that never was'. And as children all around become emblems of hope and longing and grief, she's made shockingly aware of why she has this pervasive sense of non-existence . . .

What mystery makes Kitty's decidedly odd family so vague about her mother's life? And why does Dad splash paint on canvas rather than answer his daughter's questions? On the edges of her dreams Kitty glimpses the 'kaleidoscope van' that took her sister Dinah away - will it connect her to her childhood?

This compelling and witty debut tells of identity struggles in a large family, the sadness of lost children - and the optimism of an eccentric, loving marriage ('He'd make a wonderful husband if it wasn't for me'). Clare Morrall's insightful, naïf narrative has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers since its Booker Prize shortlisting in 2003 and continues to make new fans each year.

About this title

Review:

When an innocent trip to Peter Pan gives Kitty's four brothers an excuse to deny her access to her much-loved nieces, she finds herself in a skewed, vividly coloured world where children become emblems of hope and longing and grief. Still reeling from the loss of her own "child that never was", Kitty is suddenly made shockingly aware of the real reason for her pervasive sense of "non-existence".  Suddenly, her family's oddness, the secrets of her mother's life and death, and the disappearance of her sister come into a new focus, as Kitty struggles for her own identity.

From the Publisher:

Margaret Forster said of this book: ‘Fresh, frightening and raw. There’s nothing the least depressing about this nevertheless sad story, certainly nothing remotely sentimental.’

About this edition

• Publisher: Tindal Street Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0954130324
• ISBN 13: 9780954130329
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328