These Fragile Things

Parents: Ask yourselves how would you react if your 14-year old daughter claimed to be seeing visions? Teenagers: would you risk ridicule and scorn - knowing others besides yourself will be affected - to voice a seemingly impossible claim? As Streatham, South London, still reels from the riots in neighbouring Brixton, Graham Jones, an ordinary father, grows fearful for his teenage daughter Judy who faces a world where the pace of change appears to be accelerating. But even he cannot predict what will happen next. A series of events is about to be unleashed over which he will have no control, and the lives of his family will be turned upside-down. Judy Jones knows what it means to survive. Having already defied medical predictions, not only surviving after she was buried when a wall collapsed, but learning to walk again. She understands that she is changed. She has even learned to love her scars. But when Judy claims to be seeing visions, her father will call it a miracle, and, the headline-hungry press will label her The Miracle Girl. Horrified that her only child is becoming public property, Elaine's claim on her daughter seems to be diminishing. Present when she came close to losing Judy a first time - knowing it was the paramedics and surgeons who saved her - she demands a medical explanation. But Judy, refusing to become caught up in her parents' emotional tug-of-war, is adamant. She must tread her own path, wherever it takes her. Delusion, deception, diabolic - or is it just possible that Judy's apparitions are authentic? Gather close all that you hold dear. Life can change in a split second. This intense and emotionally charged portrait of a family deep in crisis will have you reflecting on everything you believe to be true. Praise for These Fragile Things: "Davis is a phenomenal writer whose ability to create well-rounded characters that are easy to relate to felt effortless." (Compulsion Reads) "An elegant and understated prose style with a very satisfying rhythm. This is really very good writing indeed." (Debi Alper) "Leaves one panting to read more." (Jill Foulston)