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SUE IS THROUGH TO THE FINAL OF THE
PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE!
TRACES earned more votes than any other book in the Autumn collection.
Click here to read the comments placed by readers on the People's Book Prize website.
www.peoplesbookprize.com
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Q You say in this book that TRACES is full of your love for your father. Can you explain?
A My dad was a conscientious objector, like Paul Golding, and even as a child I thought that must have taken a lot of courage, because he acted on a deep principle when most people looked at war rather differently. He was shy and sensitive and standing up for what he believed must have been a hard thing to do. Paul Golding isn’t Paul Hampton, of course, and the story of Paul and Hebe is completely fictional. But TRACES feels like a book for my father, even though he died years before I began it. He loved flowers and classical music, which link all the generations in the book. But most of all, the book is about the power, joy and pain of love. Thank you, Dad. |
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INTRODUCING THE FLOWER GIRLS!
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 Poppy’s great aunt, Lanky, who owns the donkey
sanctuary, is named after this shrub, amalanchier.
It has lots of other names like shadwood and saskatoon,
and a sweet berry that ripens through red to blackish
purple in summer. |
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Hebe Madison married Paul Golding. She was
Poppy’s great grandmother, and her name comes
from a plant native to New Zealand. There are
ninety different species of hebe, all
of which attract butterflies. |
Tamarisk Freer, who married Robert Madison,
was Poppy’s great, great grandmother. She was
named after this shrub, tamarisk, which is hardy,
likes full sun and appears in late summer.
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Poppy Golding’s favourite colour is red, but poppies come in other colours
too and sometimes have markings.
You will see them in fields as well as
gardens. They have four to six petals and bees love them as a source of pollen.
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This is wood sorrel, the wildflower that gave
Poppy’s missing grandmother her name. It’s also
known as oxalis and grows over most of the world.
It can be various colours including white and yellow.
Common sorrel isn’t so pretty and tastes like kiwifruit,
but although all types are edible, sorrel is poisonous in
large quantities.
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