Ophelia Bottom’s teachers call her “O-failure” – they have no idea just how wrong they are…
Brave, determined and not afraid to be true to herself, Ophelia Bottom is a force to be reckoned with. Having spent many years with her cringeworthy, louder-than-life parents in their travelling theatre with disastrous plays, she wishes for an ordinary life. When the family is forced to spend an extended period in the village of Stopford, this might be her chance to be just like everyone else.
Is Stopford as perfect as it seems? With their motto, “Plastic is Fantastic – Different is Dangerous”, strangers aren’t welcome and someone is trying to force Ophelia’s family to leave. The possibility of actually having a friend tempts her to conform to the expectations of the town when really she knows she needs to stand up for her unusual family (who are loveable in their own way) and fight for what she knows is right. Add in a strange boy in the woods and this new life becomes more and more mysterious.
This is a story of extreme plastic pollution, showing readers just how horrible it can be. The factory owner who employs the majority of the town believes plastic is even better than people and will stop at nothing to monopolise the community.
There is so much to love about the hilarious adventure. Ophelia is a brilliant heroine while her parents are completely over the top but so fantastic with their theatrical mannerisms. The villain is truly evil and there are so many twists that will have readers carrying on long after lights out with, “Just one more chapter!” Perhaps living dangerously is the best way to live. I love all of Susie Bower’s books but I think The Dangerous Life of Ophelia Bottom might be my favourite!
I’m so pleased to welcome Susie Bower to my blog.
Susie Bower’s Top 5 Writing Tips:
- Be patient. Writing a novel is like gestating a baby. It needs time to find its shape. I spend several months jotting down notes and ideas until there is a sense of a story. Only then do I begin to write it.
- You can’t trust your ‘emotional weather’ when it comes to your writing. One day you may feel completely downcast, another full of confidence and hope. Just keep showing up for the writing – it’s the middle way between extremes.
- Finish a draft. Yes, there will be work to do afterwards, but there’s something very important psychologically about completing something: when you do, you will know what you are capable of.
- Keep the first draft to yourself. It’s as vulnerable as a foetus (see above) and should not be poked and prodded, discussed or dismantled!
- Be the writer that only you can be. Trust this writer. As the old saying goes, everyone else is taken.
Thank you to Pushkin Children’s for an early copy of this wonderful story and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.
Click on the covers below to find out more or purchase on-line from bookshop.org Amazon.
Books by Kate Heap:
Scope for Imagination 