Neil HowlettThis book began fifteen years ago when they were walking round the island of Sark, which reminded them of the unsophisticated fictional world of Kirrin Island, with its endless and endlessly repeated summer holidays. They began to speculate what lifemight be like for childhood characters if they had grown up and had to face the modern world. 1979 seemed a pivotal year. In 1979, they were both at University. Suzy, after a few jobs as a high-kicking chorus girl, a seaside hotel nanny and (very briefly) a bank clerk, settled on teaching. This was really so she could read lots of stories to her class, first in Tower Hamlets (London) then in Frome (Somerset). Neil was about to leave Oxbridge academia to cram law in a polytechnic, and worked for many years in criminal and mental health law. They have two grown up children. The first thing anyone said on hearing they were writing a book together was and you're still married? They are, and live in Frome. Read More Read Less