Price £5.99
ISBN 0 340 86063 4
Published by Hodder Bite 2003
www.bookswithbite.co.uk
Purchase on Amazon.co.uk

Recently dumped by Jamie, her arrogant boyfriend, Isabel Bright hopes to take her mind off things on a family holiday on the West Coast of Scotland. But the bleak scenery only makes her feel miserable and bored and one day, messing about on an empty beach with her sister Al, Isabel puts her name and address on a note in a bottle, hurling it far out to sea – not imagining anyone will find it. Back home, Isabel throws herself into rehearsals for the school play: Shakespeare’s The Tempest – a play about islands, storms and love at first sight. As the lead, Miranda, Isabel is horrified to discover that Jamie has been cast as the Ferdinand, her lover and what’s more – he wants to get back with her. Then, out of the blue, a letter arrives...

‘This is another one of Sue Mayfield’s fantastic books. If you enjoyed Blue then this is even better!’ Amazon Website Customer Review

‘Shakespeare’s play, Isabel’s rather luvvy life and Duncan’s own real, personal dramas are played out and cleverly mingled in this unerringly sharp, contemporary book…I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t another award winner for Sue Mayfield.’ Books for Keeps

The idea for Voices came to me during a very wet walk on the moors with my dog. Straight away I wrote a synopsis of the plot and did some sketches (in words, not drawings) about the characters so that I could picture them. Then I spent some time thinking and chatting to friends about the ideas. The book is about a group of sixth formers who are putting on a play, so during the time I was writing it, I went to the theatre a lot and also used my own experience of acting-in and directing plays. The play that Isabel and her friends are performing is Shakespeare’s The Tempest so I read the play a lot and went to see it twice while I was writing the book. I also had to decide what their production would look like so that I could describe it – which was a bit like ‘virtual directing’. During the writing period I went to Manchester several times, as that is where Isabel lives, and drank lots of cups of cappuccino in cafes!

In the course of the book, Isabel sends a message-in-a-bottle from a Scottish beach. That idea was inspired by a woman I once met who told me she had found a real message in a bottle from a Russian sailor! Isabel’s message is found by Duncan who lives on an island called Rimsay which is a made-up place, based on several Hebridean islands I’ve visited. A couple of years ago I went to the Isle of Barra to do some research for another book and a lot of details in this book are inspired by that visit. While I was writing the book I had several pieces of driftwood and a tangle of dried seaweed on my desk to get me in the mood.

Of all the books I‘ve written I think this one was the most enjoyable. And it’s my husband Tim’s favourite!

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