THE TALE OF PHOENIX 

This is a philosophical children’s fiction story about Phoenix who, though entirely blameless, carries the guilt of his twin sister’s death at birth and feels cursed. Events seem to confirm this, especially on his leap-year birthdays. On his twelfth, he is caught in a fire and, whilst lying in a coma in this life, in another world, Lila, he meets Maya, his twin, escapes a heart-hunter, rescues a small boy, Karun, from his death and takes him across the island. Here, Phoenix’s world intersects with the story-book of Marina, a mermaid, who sacrifices her life to ensure that Phoenix continues to the centre of the island alone to save Karun again, this time from his unconscious state and, simultaneously, awake from his own coma to return, newly alive, to his home, friends and new-found family.

Notes from my editor:

The Tale of the Phoenix is fascinating. It is a very different type of book: it tells of the inward journey of an introverted character, there are stories within stories, within stories and there is a mix of psychology, philosophy and spirituality, and fairy-tale and cultural references. There are parts of the story that are dark and subversive – and are quite brilliant in my opinion. There are ‘nods’ to traditional European folk and fairy tales, both in your writing and in the stories that appear in the tale. There are times when I felt I was reading science fiction/fantasy and times when the message was Vedic or more generally spiritual… It is a story that is very much from your heart and that is appealing because it is authentic.

(Cover design by Monique Van der Pol)