One morning in a house in Kent, Mary Torrance opens a gift from her sister, Jenna Ferguson, and Mary knows their lives will never be the same again.
Whilst trying to rebuild her life, Mary witnesses a crime that leads her to question a new relationship. She becomes obsessed with enigmatic stranger James Connor. What is his connection to Jenna, and why has he turned up now?
Mary's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic as she struggles to unravel the truth and the significance of a squidgy torch, all whilst battling to cope with pregnancy.
Every day, Mary gets closer to the truth. And the closer she gets, the more improbable it seems.
the end
Once upon a time there was a A Fairy girl called Violet Rose. She was on the way to see her side chick Doris Sparrow, when she decided to take a short cut through Dallington Forest.
It wasn't long before Violet got lost. She looked around, but all she could see were trees. Nervously, she felt into her bag for her favourite toy, Laura, but Laura was nowhere to be found! Violet began to panic. She felt sure she had packed Laura. To make matters worse, she was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, she saw a Giant One Eye troll dressed in a yellow bowler hat disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought Violet.
For the want of anything better to do, she decided to follow the peculiarly dressed troll. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Violet reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from sweet potatoes and one made from Broccoli.
Violet could feel her tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease her hunger.
"Hello!" she called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Violet looked at the roof on the closest house and wondered if it would be rude to eat somebody else's chimney. Obviously it would be impolite to eat a whole house, but perhaps it would be considered acceptable to nibble the odd fixture or lick the odd fitting, in a time of need.
A cackle broke through the air, giving Violet a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Laura!
"Laura!" shouted Violet. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Laura back!" cried Violet.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Laura out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, the Giant One Eye troll in the yellow bowler hat rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.
"Hello Big Troll," said the witch.
"Good morning." The troll noticed Laura. "Who is this?"
"That's Laura," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Laura would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the troll.
The witch shook her head. "Laura is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Violet interrupted. "Laura lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Troll ignored her. "Is there nothing you'll trade?" he asked the witch.
The witch thought for a moment, then said, "I do like to be entertained. I'll release him to anybody who can eat a whole front door."
Big Troll looked at the house made from Broccoli and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from Broccoli if I wanted to."
"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Laura."
Violet watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Laura to Big Troll. She didn't think Laura would like living with a Giant One Eye troll, away from her house and all her other toys.
Big Troll put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Troll. "Just you watch!"
Big Troll pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from Broccoli. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
And more.
And more.
Eventually, Big Troll started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of Broccoli, he grew to the size of a large snowball - and he was every bit as round.
"Erm... I don't feel too good," said Big Troll.
Suddenly, he started to roll. He'd grown so round that he could no longer balance!
"Help!" he cried, as he rolled off down a slope into the forest.
Big Troll never finished eating the front door made from Broccoli and Laura remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Laura."
"Not so fast," said Violet. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from sweet potatoes. And I haven't had a turn yet.
"I don't have to give you a turn!" laughed the witch. "My game. My rules."
The woodcutter's voice carried through the forest. "I think you should give her a chance. It's only fair."
"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the troll. She won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said Violet.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Laura back."
Violet ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. She came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, she broke off a piece of the door of the house made from sweet potatoes and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, she took a bite. She quickly devoured the whole piece.
Violet sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained Violet. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When Violet's food had digested, she broke off another piece of the door made from sweet potatoes. Once more, she toasted her food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. She ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.
Eventually, after several sittings, Violet was down to the final piece of the door made from sweet potatoes. Carefully, she toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. She finished her final course. Violet had eaten the entire front door of the house made from sweet potatoes.
The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. It was the woodcutter. He walked back into the clearing, carrying his axe. "This little girl won fair and square. Now hand over Laura or I will chop your broomstick in half."
The witch looked horrified. She grabbed her broomstick and placed it behind her. Then, huffing, she opened the door of the cage.
Violet hurried over and grabbed Laura, checking that her favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Laura was unharmed.
Violet thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Doris. It was starting to get dark.
When Violet got to Doris's house, her side chick threw her arms around her.
"I was so worried!" cried Doris. "You are very late."
As Violet described her day, she could tell that Doris didn't believe her. So she grabbed a napkin from her pocket.
"What's that?" asked Doris.
Violet unwrapped a doorknob made from Broccoli. "Pudding!" she said.
Doris almost fell off her chair.
End