HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins website address is First published in Great Britain by Methuen Children’s Books Ltd in 1990 This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2016 Copyright © 1990 The Estate of Robert Westall Why You’ll Love This Book copyright © Sophie McKenzie 2009 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2016 Cover illustration © Tom Clohosy Cole 2016 Robert Westall asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780007301416 Ebook Edition © 2016 ISBN: 9780007378197 Version: 2016-07-25
For Miriam, who understood
Contents Copyright Why You’ll Love This Book by Sophie McKenzie Author’s Note More Than a Story About the Author About the Publisher
Why You’ll Love This Book by Sophie McKenzie
What an amazing book! I mean, what an amazing book! I love The Kingdom by the Sea for lots of reasons. For a start, there’s the way it begins … grabbing you on page one and never letting go. The story is set in the North East of England during the Second World War. Page one plunges the main character, Harry, into the middle of an air raid. Sirens, noise, confusion and exploding bombs. By the end of the first chapter, Harry has lost everything – his home, his family, even his rabbits. Reading it the first time, I was already completely hooked. As Harry goes on the run he has to deal with some of life’s biggest challenges – finding food and shelter on a daily basis. He finds a purpose – trying to get to the island of Lindisfarne – and someone to care for – Don, the dog. As he travels around, he grows up – and this is another fantastic part of the book; the way without either us or him realising it, Harry changes and learns how to look after himself. There’s a perfect balance in the story between exciting action where Harry faces terrible dangers, and Harry’s thoughts and feelings about his situation. You get completely inside Harry’s head and the book is really emotional, without ever being sentimental. And that’s another thing I love – the beautiful style in which the story is written. Every word counts. Nothing excessive. Nothing wasted. Harry meets a variety of people on his travels. Some are kind and helpful, others abusive or manipulative. Harry calls himself a pilgrim at one point and, indeed, The Kingdom by the Sea is like a quest story, with Harry having to face life-threatening dangers and gain confidence before coming to the end of his journey. Perhaps my favourite thing about this book is the ending. Don’t worry, I’m not going to give it away here! Often when I read stories the endings are disappointing. After a good story, the final pages are predictable or unrealistic. Not with The Kingdom by the Sea. As I was reaching the end of the book, I started wondering how it would finish. I was so caught up in Harry’s life and adventures I could only see two alternative endings. In the end, the story ended in a third way – one I hadn’t foreseen but which felt completely convincing. This is such a brilliant book – it definitely inspired me to be a better writer and, most importantly, was – and
