“My secret?” Aunt Fennel looked up at him again, then beyond him at Fiona, at the sergeant, at Colonel Linton. “You mean, which of them am I?” She smiled to herself, a smile that her great-niece would have recognised. She said to Adnan,
“If I didn’t see fit to tell my Lucy child, do you think that I would tell any of you?”
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Joan Aiken
Joan Aiken was born in Rye, Sussex in 1924, daughter of the American poet Conrad Aiken, and started writing herself at the age of five. Since the 1960s she wrote full time and published over 100 books. Best known for her children’s books such as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Midnight is a Place, she also wrote extensively for adults and published many contemporary and historical novels, including sequels to novels by Jane Austen. In 1968 she won the Guardian Children’s book prize for Whispering Mountain, followed by an Edgar Allan Poe award for Night Fall in 1972, and was awarded an MBE for her services to children’s literature in 1999. Joan Aiken died in 2004.
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Bello
hidden talent rediscovered
Bello is a digital-only imprint of Pan Macmillan,
established to breathe new life into previously
published, classic books.
At Bello we believe in the timeless power of the imagination, of a good story, narrative and entertainment, and we want to use digital technology to ensure that many more readers can enjoy these books into the future.
We publish in ebook and print-on-demand formats to bring these wonderful books to new audiences.
www.panmacmillan.com/imprint-publishers/bello
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First published 1970 by Gollancz
This edition first published 2018 by Bello
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www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-7859-8
Copyright © Joan Aiken 1970
The right of Joan Aiken to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset by Ellipsis, Glasgow
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4YY This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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