Andrea Gilbey presents a collection of stories -- nostalgic, funny, creepy, charming -- inspired by writing prompts. A word, a phrase, a memory, a theme -- anything might ignite a creative spark. Join the author as she ventures into science fiction, horror, memoir, and gentle ghost stories. From a child learning to read to a woman setting the suspicions of the police to rest, there's a story here for every taste.
Sylvie is four coming five, and about to start school but an even bigger life event is just around the corner as the Second World War begins and Sylvie's family, along with the rest of Britain, has to deal with new dangers and shortages.
Sylvie is eleven coming twelve, and about to take her scholarship place at the local grammar school. The war is over, and a new era is beginning for the family, but a sudden event pushes a young girl from another family onto the world stage, and Sylvie, her friends and relatives, become the new Elizabethans. This sequel to the novel Bottletops for Battleships follows the Ford family into the brave new world of the nineteen fifties.