The Moon King

At the centre of this warmhearted novel is the story of nine-year-old Ricky's growth from shyness and silence to confidence and speech. When his home circumstances become such that he moves as a foster child into the rumbustiously friendly Kelly household, he initially finds that accommodation to his new surroundings is difficult. But following his discovery of the beautiful 'Moon' chair in the attic of the old rambling house, he is able, gradually, to shed past traumas and to begin his transformation to newer certainties. Parkinson skilfully blends third-person narrative with occasional stream of consciousness effects, creating an appropriate medium for her account of Ricky's triumphantly imaginative conquest of the many demons by which he is haunted.