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Synopsis

Permanent Rose by Hilary Mckay

Rose is eight, much the youngest of four siblings. Her father has taken himself off to London with a new girlfriend to paint "real pictures". Her vague and hippyish mother is away all day painting murals in the local hospital, but sometimes remembers to ask "Is anyone looking after Rose?" No one much is. Caddie, the eldest, is busy worrying about whether or not to marry her fiancé; her brother, Indigo, plays his guitar and reads passages from the Morte d'Arthur to Rose; and her adopted sister, Saffy, who seems about 15, is preoccupied with her disabled friend, Sarah. Rose, who appears to have no friends of her own age, wanders about shop-lifting, drawing tattoos on herself, and missing Indigo's friend Tom, who has gone back to America and hasn't been in touch since.

 

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Reviews

Permanent Rose is the antidote to everything that's bad in children's books and, indeed, everything that's bad in life... there are no hard edges but no sentimental slop either, in this beguiling story. -- The Sunday Telegraph 20050327 McKay has a genius for domestic comedy. Her books are also imbued with an ethos of tolerance and acceptance. This unconventional family ... has become, with our increasing knowledge of its members, a kind of model of how to make the most of life. -- The Sunday Times 20050327 From the opening scene ... McKay's third story about the vibrant Casson family is entrancing. -- The Guardian 20050327 Rose Casson is the kind of girl we should all want to be... A great sequel to Saffy's Angel and Indigo's Star. -- Family Interest Magazine 20050327 'McKay's strength lies in her ability to craft an unputdownable story from everyday happenings, and to handle serious issues and emotions with real lightness. She evokes the whole Casson family so vividly that the reader can imagine their lives going on uniterupted even after the book has been closed. Highly recommended.
Bookfest 20050327
'Realistic dialogue and irresistible characters enliven the tale.'
School Library Journal 20050327

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About The Author

Hilary McKay won the Guardian Children's Award with her first novel, The Exiles. Her subsequent work has achieved similar recognition - The Exiles at Home won the Smarties Prize and Saffy's Angel won the Whitbread. A graduate of Botany and Zoology from St Andrews University, Hilary now writes full-time. She lives in Derbyshire with her husband and two children.

You can read her character Rose Casson's blog by clicking here - and Rose's tweets on the right hand side of this page.

Q & A with Hilary Mckay

What is your earliest childhood memory?
Watching steam trains with my grandfather. He died before I was two years
old, so that is a very early memory.

If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
Well, who could turn down the gift of flight? Or travel without luggage? Or a
life spent following the sun? Without doubt, I would be a swallow. I realise this
means a lifetime of eating flies, but I think it would be worth it.

What is your dream holiday destination?
I would start at the Sangre de Cristo mountains in New Mexico and travel South
through Central America, along the coast to Peru, then down through Chile
across to the Falklands and on to Antarctica, which I would circumnavigate.
Then I would travel North to New Zealand where I would spend a long time
warming up and then across to Australia. I would spend quite a long time in
Sydney and go up into the Blue Mountains (I might go sapphire hunting there)
and then to the Great Barrier Reef (of course).
That would be far enough for me.

What is your morning routine?
Alas, I do not have a morning routine.

If you could have one special talent, what would it be?
Singing, undoubtedly. That would make me the happiest. But I have a friend
whose talent is languages and I envy that one very much.

Likes: Millions of things! Books, cats, honey, letters from readers (hint, hint), real music, apples, swimming in cold water, chocolate coated ginger biscuits, trees.

Dislikes: Putting things away, litter, loud TV, hot rooms, being told what to think.

3 words that best descibe me: Untidy, happy, hopeful!

A Secret that not many people know: I am a VERY slow reader!

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