'Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.'
Emily has not yet reached the age of judgement. For her, normality consists of contentment and magic and there is no possibility of change in the seeming happiness of her parents - Fen, beautiful and mercurial, and Idle, a hardworking and gentle man. She loves them both and her image of them together - indivisible, laughing, dancing, making every day scintillate with life. When change does come, Emily is a helpless spectator, confused by the puzzle of ill-fitting events.
It is seldom that an exceptional book is written about a child's world, for it requires unusual imagination and a sharp, delicate touch. With both poignant humour and ruthless honesty, Angela Huth has captured the fluctuations and inconsistencies of adult behaviours, as seen through the eyes of a child who watches and suffers from them.
