The Lady with Iron Bones

Kasey has been beset by family problems all through junior school. Desperate for solutions, she turns to a decaying statue found by her friend Ellen at the bottom of her next door neighbour's garden. Her gifts and prayers to this lady with iron bones seem to have met with success when her much loved brother returns home. However, the innocent rituals take a sinister turn when Kasey's hated class teacher is involved in a serious accident which Kasey believes her prayers have caused. Kasey's belief in the statue's powers leave her locked in a cycle of built and appeasement and it is only through the timely intervention of Mrs Sayer, the statue's owner, that she is eventually released. This is an absorbing and thoughtful story whose strength lies in Mark's unerring reproduction of children's dialogue - internal and external - and the unpatronising way in which she debates the issues of guilt and responsibility.