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Synopsis

I, Coriander (Audio CD) by Sally Gardner

The story is told by Coriander, daughter of a silk merchant in 1650s London. Her idyllic childhood ends when her mother dies and her father goes away, leaving Coriander with her stepmother, a widow who is in cahoots with a fundamentalist Puritan preacher. She is shut away in a chest and left to die, but emerges into the fairy world from which her mother came, and where time has no meaning. When she returns, charged with a task that will transform her life, she is seventeen. This is a book filled with enchantments -- a pair of silver shoes, a fairy shadow, a prince transformed into a fox - that contrast with the heartbreaking loss and cruelty of Coriander's life in the real world. With its brilliantly realized setting of old London Bridge, and underpinned by the conflict between Royalists and Puritans, it is a terrific page turner, involving kidnapping, murder and romance, and an abundance of vivid characters. Coriander is a heroine to love, whose joys and sorrows we follow through huge adventures.

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Reviews

'Fine reading is also the winning element in I, Coriander ... Juliet 'Stevenson puts a husky childishness in her voice for the tale's half-fairy heroine Coriander, then transforms it to a rich warble as the comforting peasant nurse, a vicious stab as the stepmother and a snakelike hiss as the murderous preacher.'
The Times
'Juliet Stevenson has, I think, one of the best voices in the business ... It's no surprise that I was enthralled by her reading of Sally Gardner's debut book for older children, I, Coriander... thanks to Juliet Stevenson's singular narrative skills, the other characters are also brought to life. It is quite simply one of the best audiobooks I have heard this year.'
Disability Now
'Juliet Stevenson's dulcet, sensitive voice will lull the most fractious traveller into a world of pain and pleasure.'
Amanda Craig THE INDEPENDENT

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About The Author

Sally Gardner is an award-winning novelist from London. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and have sold more than one million copies in the UK.

Her historical novel for older readers, I, Coriander, won the Smarties Children's Book Prize in 2005.  Two thrillers both set at the time of the French Revolution, The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2009, followed. Actor Dominic West ('The Wire') has bought the film rights to both titles.

Sally Gardner's stories for middle readers include Lucy Willow and the popular Magical Children series of six titles The Strongest Girl in the World, The Invisible Boy, The Boy with Magic Numbers, The Smallest Girl in the World, The Boy with the Lightning Feet, and The Boy who Could Fly, which are also available as audio books.

She has also written and illustrated picture books including The Fairy Catalogue, The Glass Heart, The Book of Princesses and Playtime Rhymes.

The Double Shadow is published in November 2011.

Sally Gardner continues to be an avid spokesperson for Dyslexia, working to change the way it is perceived by society. She is dyslexic and argues that it's not a disability, but a gift.

 

If you'd love to know more about Sally, click here to download a more detailed biography and Q&A.

To see a video of Sally talking about her book Fairy Shopping - CLICK HERE

Or watch a video of her talking about The Silver Blade:

 

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