Voices

The backdrop to this tale in five acts is The Tempest, which Isabel (Miranda) and her fellow drama students including her rat ex (Ferdinand) are preparing for performance. A slightly incredible contrivance is that she is also involved by e-mail with a Scottish lad who found her message in a bottle, washed up on his Isle of Rimsay.

Shakespeare’s play, Isabel’s rather luvvy life and Duncan’s own real, personal dramas are played out and cleverly mingled in this unerringly sharp, contemporary book, with characters and dialogue that echo exactly my experience of sixth-formers, their concerns and pre-occupations. I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t another award winner for Sue Mayfield.