PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Timothee de Fombelle is a much-admired French playwright, as well as the author of Toby Alone (9781406313154), and Toby Alone and the Secrets of the Tree (9781406310146). Walker published Toby Alone in 2008, when the work had already been translated into twenty-two languages. Timothee lives in Paris. Sarah Ardizzone is one of the most sought-after translators working today. She has won several awards for her work, including the 2007 Scott-Moncrieff Prize for Just Like Tomorrow (Kif Kif Demain) by Falza Guene and the 2005 Marsh Award for Eye of the Wolf (L'oeil du Loup) by Daniel Pennac, and the 2009 Marsh Award for the translataion of Toby Alone (Tobie Lolness) by Timothee de Fombelle. Sarah lives in London, SW2.
A beautifully inventive adventure novel, this story reminds me of nothing more than the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo - but set in the 1900s and meant to be read by a younger audience. This is, by the way, the highest praise I can give to an adventure novel [...] Vango has the same ingenuity, the same imagination, as Alexander Dumas's work, with a never-ending series of fantastic events that the incredibly talented main character negotiates with aplomb. [...] It is de Fombelle's adept characterization that solidifies the real, poignant emotional underpinning of what might otherwise be a fluffy adventure novel. * The Globally Curious * Timothee De Fombelle, Vango: Between Sky and Earth, Independent - Author of mesmerising Toby Alone, the French novelist has now come up with yet another utterly distinctive adventure story. Expertly translated by Sarah Ardizzone, this tall but continually gripping tale is set in the 1930s in an atmosphere reminiscent of pre-war French cinema at its most romantic... Satisfyingly long, with a plot that flits between time zones but is always easy to follow, this is simply too good to miss, with a sequel promised next year. * Independent *
