Daniel Isn't Talking
Page 26
Sometimes, too, people were wonderful to me. Not every doctor behaved badly, nor every school official. And when I’d had enough and fell apart for a few minutes or a few hours, there were people – not least of whom my husband – who persuaded me to plough on.
‘I was able to care about Melanie, understand her thoughts, her motives, her expressions of grief and joy over her son, and in doing so I looked freshly at my own life and began to make sense of it all.’
Never during this time did I consider myself – by which I mean myself as a human being separate from my family – nor would it have been appropriate to do so. However, in writing the book I was able to visit Melanie and, in an extraordinary manner, meet myself as I was back then, with my little boy of three years, with my daughter just starting nursery school. I was able to care about Melanie, understand her thoughts, her motives, her expressions of grief and joy over her son, and in doing so I looked freshly at my own life and began to make sense of it all.
Of course, this is what novels do: make sense of our diverse, inelegant, astonishing lives, weave together the apparent disarray of events and people, and present to us anew a kind of truth about ourselves that does not involve facts so much as emotions and ideas. By writing about Melanie I was able to hide myself a little even while exposing everything of importance about myself. I was able to unveil private thoughts in the most public of arenas and express something that I suppose I was hoping to say all along in my real life but, between my son’s therapy sessions and my own arguments with the local education authorities, I didn’t have time.
Read on
Have You Read?
Other books by Marti Leimbach
Dying Young
Hilary has fallen in love, but with the wrong person. Victor, the object of her affections, is everything she could want in a man, handsome, funny, intelligent. The only problem is he has leukaemia and, having refused treatment for it, he’s dying. Leimbach’s first novel was made into a film of the same name, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Julia Roberts.
Sun Dial Street
When Sam returns home to California after four years away, he finds his little sister grown up and his mother still as manic as ever. But then Eli, a larger-than-life restaurant and strip-joint owner, comes onto the scene and disrupts Sam’s new impressions of his little sister, and, when this newcomer is found dead, his peace of mind.
Love and Houses
Megan is seven months pregnant when her commitment-phobic husband decides he needs a little ‘break’ from their marriage. A funny and informative novel about everything from, well, love to houses.
Falling Backwards
A haunting, lyrical account of a complex marriage between Rebecca and her husband, James, who suffers from manic depression.
If You Loved This, You Might Like …
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Mark Haddon
The Pursuit of Alice Thrift
Elinor Lipman
Innocence
Kathleen Tessaro
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Kate Atkinson
Ollie: The True Story of a Brief and Courageous Life
Stephen Venables
Send in the Idiots
Kamran Nazeer
The Madonnas of Leningrad
Debra Dean
Find Out More
www.martileimbach.com
Includes a biography, articles about writing and autism, information about forthcoming appearances as well as the author’s blog and current favourite reads.
www.nas.org.uk
The National Autistic Society is a UK-based association which provides information about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and champions the rights of those diagnosed with either disorder. The website provides lots of information about the process of diagnosis and where and how to get help.
www.autismspeaks.org
This US charity (with a UK arm) raises awareness of autism and funds for research. Its website provides event news and information about getting involved.
www.treehouse.org.uk
The TreeHouse Trust is a London-based UK charity, established in 1997 to provide an educational centre of excellence for children with autism.
www.peach.org.uk
A parent-led UK charity established to promote early behavioural intervention, Applied Behavioural Analysis, for young children with autism.
www.rdiconnect.com
An organization that coaches parents to help their children with autism reach essential developmental milestones.
About the Author
MARTI LEIMBACH is the author of several novels, including the international bestseller, Dying Young, which was made into a major motion picture starring Julia Roberts. Born in Washington, DC, she now lives in England with her husband and two children. She teaches creative writing at Oxford University.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.co.uk for exclusive information on your favourite HarperCollins authors.
By the same author
Dying Young
Sun Dial Street
Love and Houses
Falling Backwards
Copyright
Harper Perennial
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This edition published by Harper Perennial 2007
First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate 2006
Copyright © Marti Leimbach 2006
PS Section copyright © Louise Tucker 2007, except
‘Glimpsing a Past Life’ © Marti Leimbach 2007
PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
Marti Leimbach asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
‘Patchwork’ from Selected Poems by Michael Longley, published by
Jonathan Cape. Reprinted by permission of the Random House Group Ltd.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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EPub Edition © MARCH 2009 ISBN: 9780007279272
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