A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I’m in the middle of rewriting a manuscript and am trying to dedicate as much time as possible to it, but I must mention this fabulous book I read recently.

A Monster Calls was developed from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd who died from cancer before she was able to write the story.  It’s gorgeously illustrated by Jim Kay; he and Patrick Ness won the Greenaway and Carnegie Medals respectively for this book.

Conor lives with his mother who is ill.  His father has moved away to America (from the UK) and Conor does not get along with his grandmother.  One night Conor is visited by a monster, who returns repeatedly to tell him stories.  The stories don’t make sense to Conor, they seem unfair and anger him.  The monster says after the third story, Conor must tell his own story.

After the monster tells each story, Conor is ‘possessed’ by the monster with frightening consequences.  But in spite of the bad things Conor has done, he is not punished. 

When Conor finally tells his story, he accepts the unfair truth: his mother is going to die. 

Having lost my own mother to cancer when I was young, I related to this story in almost every detail (apart from a giant yew tree visiting in the middle of the night).  It’s a rare thing to find a wonderful book that feels like it’s your story there on the page.  I highly recommend this book to everyone, but particularly for anyone who’s lost someone to a terminal disease.

Best Bit of A Monster Calls:  It’s hard to choose:  the superb writing, the outstanding illustrations, or the truth-seeking monster that lives in us all.

Can’t wait to see the movie: Liam Neeson is signed on to play the monster.