The Double Shadow

Arnold Ruben has created a memory machine, a utopia housed in a picture palace, where the happiest memories replay forever, a haven in which he and his precious daughter can shelter from the war-clouds gathering over 1937 Britain. But on the day of her seventeenth birthday Amaryllis leaves Warlock Hall and the world she has known and wakes to find herself in a desolate and disturbing place. Something has gone terribly wrong with her father's plan.

Against the tense backdrop of the second World War Sally Gardner explores families and what binds them, fathers and daughters, past histories, passions and cruelty, love and devastation in a novel rich in character and beautifully crafted.

“Astonishing”

A paranormal teen romance with a rare philosophical depth Financial Times
The Guardian
Exciting and fulfilling Carousel
Extraordinary -- one of those rare novels published for young readers where we are admitted to a secondary world charged with its writer's exceptional intelligence of both mind and emotion Books For Keeps
A rich and compelling book ... a tour de force School Librarian
An extraordinary novel of unusual grace and power The Daily Telegraph
Remarkable ... lyrical ... unpredictable The Times
At times the writing is almost too good -- so visual, so visceral that you can feel the green fog of captured memories seeping out form the pages The Sunday Telegraph
What a mysterious and haunting book ... terrifying and fascinating in equal measure The Bookseller
Strikingly original The Independent
Gardner is a true artist and original ... The writing is thrillingly vivid, dramatic and makes for a serious treat which keeps readers on the edge of their seats all the way to the end The Times
Typically brilliant ... an unusual and constantly challenging story The Independent
One of those haunting books that will be remembered by the reader for a lifetime SFX Magazine
This is one of those rare gems that can easily become a classic. LIBRARIAN LAVENDER

Sally Gardner is an award-winning novelist from London. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and have sold more than one million copies in the UK. Her historical novel for older readers, I, Coriander, won the Smarties Children's Book Prize in 2005. Two thrillers both set at the time of the French Revolution, The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2009, followed. Actor Dominic West (The Wire) has bought the film rights to both titles. Sally Gardner's stories for middle readers include Lucy Willow and the popular Magical Children series of six titles The Strongest Girl in the World, The Invisible Boy, The Boy with Magic Numbers, The Smallest Girl in the World, The Boy with the Lightning Feet and The Boy Who Could Fly, which are also available as audio books. She has also written and illustrated picture books including The Fairy Catalogue, The Glass Heart, The book of Princesses and Playtime Rhymes. Sally Gardner continues to be an avid spokesperson for Dyslexia, working to change the way it is perceived by society. She is dyslexic and argues that it's not a disability, but a gift.

'Once there was a girl who asked of her reflection, 'If all I have is fragments of memories and none of them fit together, tell me then, do I exist?' 1937. War clouds gather over Britain. Amaryllis Ruben is hiding a secret even she does not understand. In a bluebell wood stands a picture palace. Her father built it to house his invention; one that could change the war-torn world forever. He plans to give it to her on her seventeenth birthday. But it's a present Amaryllis doesn't want, and in it is a past she must come to terms with and a boy whose name she can't remember.

Arnold Ruben has created a memory machine, a utopia housed in a picture palace, where the happiest memories replay forever, a haven in which he and his precious daughter can shelter from the war-clouds gathering over 1937 Britain. But on the day of her seventeenth birthday Amaryllis leaves Warlock Hall and the world she has known and wakes to find herself in a desolate and disturbing place. Something has gone terribly wrong with her father's plan.Against the tense backdrop of the second World War Sally Gardner explores families and what binds them, fathers and daughters, past histories, passions and cruelty, love and devastation in a novel rich in character and beautifully crafted.

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