‘He’s the best writer,’ she said …‘the very best. I read everything he wrote. Everything.’
Charlie Bloom’s life is pretty good. He’s living with a girl he loves – Alice, who he calls ‘Lootie’ – and is studying Literature at university. One day he hopes to be a writer. So, when Lootie suggests they go and listen to children’s writer, Sebastian Chanteleer, he doesn’t object. Lootie is a huge fan of Chanteleer and, when she meets him, they bond instantly. But Charlie is not so sure about Chanteleer and as the older man’s relationship with Lootie grows, Charlie feels his own slipping away.
The Children’s Writer is a compelling story, with Charlie forced to confront his own past and his own shortcomings at the same time as he becomes increasingly aware of Chanteleer’s. Author Gary Crew (himself a children’s writer) offers a glimpse at the complexities of the creative world and of those who dwell within it.
The Children’s Writer, by Gary Crew
Fourth Estate, 2009
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