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That isn’t to say that all conjoined twins have had it easy. The physiology of Tippi and Grace is loosely based on the bodies of Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova, whose mother was told they had died at birth and who were then experimented on for over twenty years by Russian scientists. Most conjoined twins are stillborn and those that do survive have short lives due to their physical abnormalities—often congenital heart defects.
Researching this novel has been painful. I have spent many hours in tears as I read or watched stories about parents losing their children or one twin losing his or her sibling. But ultimately, writing this novel has been a huge honour. It has been invaluable to me, not just as a writer, but as a parent, friend, wife and daughter, to have been given the time and space to think about what it means to be an individual and more importantly, what it really means to love another person.
Acknowledgements
Some people deserve to be mentioned. Loads more than I have space for here. But special thanks to my agent Julia Churchill for being supportive of this project from the very beginning. Thank you to my sensitive and careful editors Martha Mihalick and Zöe Griffiths and to everyone in the teams at Greenwillow, New York, and Bloomsbury, London, for being so darn brilliant—always.
Also have it known that I am indebted to the following for various acts of support, generosity, kindness, hard work, or bravery: Professor Aroon Hingorani, Professor Andrew Taylor, Mr Edward Kiely, The British Library, Repforce Ireland, Combined Media, Jennifer Custer, Hélène Ferey, Chris Slegg, Emma Bradshaw, Zareena Huber, Nikki Sheehan and Ani Luca. Thanks, of course, to my friends and family, especially Andreas, Aoife, Jimmy, Mum, Dad, and the Donegal and New Jersey clans, for their ongoing love—you rock the party!
Sarah Crossan has lived in Dublin, London and New York, and now lives in Hertfordshire. She graduated with a degree in philosophy and literature before training as an English and drama teacher at Cambridge University. Since completing a masters in creative writing, she has been working to promote creative writing in schools.
To find out more about Sarah and her sensational books visit sarahcrossan.com and @SarahCrossan.
Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag,
Kasienka and her mother head for England.
Life is lonely for Kasienka. At home her mother’s
heart is breaking; at school friends are scarce.
But when someone special swims into her life,
Kasienka learns that there might be more
than one way for her to stay afloat.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013 Winner of the Eilís Dillon Award for a first children’s book, CBI Book of the Year Awards Winner of the Coventry Inspiration Awards in the Read It Or Else category
Winner of the We Read Prize 2013, www.weread.org.uk
Winner of the UKLA Book Award 2013 (7–11 category) Shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award Shortlisted for the Hazelgrove Book Award
‘Poignant, powerful, just perfect’
Cathy Cassidy
‘A compellingly beautiful, utterly seductive debut novel’
Scotsman
‘This poetic novel is sheer perfection’
Irish Examiner
‘A unique and compelling read’
Bookseller
‘What’s so disarming and charming is the way the girl reveals her inner self with a poetic and resonant simplicity’
John Agard
When Apple’s mother returns after eleven years away, Apple feels whole again. She will have an answer to her burning question – why did you go?
But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother’s homecoming is bitter sweet.
It’s only when Apple meets someone more lost than she is, that she begins to see things as they really are.
Shortlisted for the IBW Book Awards 2015 in the ‘Children’s’ category
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2015
Shortlisted for the CBI Book Awards
Shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2014 in the ‘Children’s Senior’ category
Shortlisted for the We Read prize 2015
‘This poignant, realistic tale is about learning to love and taking responsibility, and about how poems can tell the truth, as Emily Dickinson put it, at a “slant”?’
Sunday Times
‘Crossan’s skill as a writer is at its most pronounced, contributing to a portrayal of adolescence that is subtle and humane’
Irish Times
‘An inspiring tale’
Irish Examiner
‘It’ll make you laugh and cry…’
Company
‘Apple and Rain is a beautifully crafted story about painful reunions, loyalty and the true meaning of love; a story with a deep emotional core, both heart-wrenching and heart-warming’
Sita Brahmachari, author of Artichoke Hearts
‘Sarah Crossan writes with insight and honesty in this moving story of family, friendship and love’
Clare Furniss, author of The Year of the Rat
‘Honest, funny and at times heart-breaking. Apple and Rain is perfect for readers who want to read about an ordinary person with an extraordinary family’
Rebecca Westcott, author of Dandelion Clocks
‘Apple and Rain is a wonderful feel-good kind of book, the kind that doesn’t offer you an unrealistic happy ending, but rather an ending which leaves the reader full of hope. A wonderful book indeed’
www.librarymice.com
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in August 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Sarah Crossan 2015
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4088 6311 4
eISBN 978 1 4088 2946 2
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