Mad Joy - Jane Bailey

In the beginning a small girl runs into a wood, and two years later walks out of it and into the nearest house. Gracie, the childless spinster who finds her curled up on her armchair, takes her on as her own, seeing her as a feral gift of fate. Known as Joy in the Cotswold village that adopts her, there is endless speculation about her wild past and comical ways. In this moving and passionate tale, Joy grows into a young woman at the advent of World War II, and when she becomes romantically involved with a fighter pilot the extraordinary mystery of her past slowly unravels.

Jane Bailey taught Italian and French in Bristol, where she wrotePromising (shortlisted for the Dillon's Prize) andAn

Praise for Tommy Glover's Sketch of Heaven: 'A vivid and involving novel that reaches a truly page-turning climax.' Barbara Trapido

Absorbing, compelling and intensely moving.
Lesley Glaister