Useful Idiots

A fascinating thriller based in a future where the seas have risen to claim back the land, the past has been buried and archaeology is considered the most dangerous science.

Jan Mark was born in Welwyn, Herts in 1943. She grew up in Ashford, Kent and attended Canterbury College of Art. She taught in a secondary school in Gravesend for six years, before becoming a full-time writer. Her book THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Whitbread Children's Award. She has won the Carnegie Medal twice, for THUNDER AND LIGHTNINGS and HANDLES.

Set in a highly realistic dystopic future, where the lowlands of Britain are flooded, this beautifully realised novel explores a world where archaeology is controlled for fear of social unrest. One bleak morning, a storm across the North Sea unveils a human skull, which leads to a series of events that changes the lives of those involved. Merrick, a young graduate archaeology student becomes embroiled in the task of discovering the origins of the skull. His interest in this bizarre case brings him into contact with the Inglish, a remnant tribe eking out an existence on the edge of Europe. In this wildly progressive new world, it is they who will be affected the most. This is a compelling vision of England as it could be in the not-so-distant future.

They Do Things Differently There

An original and brilliant novel from one of today's greatest fiction writers

Jan Mark was born in Welwyn, Herts in 1943. She grew up in Ashford, Kent and attended Canterbury College of Art. She taught in a secondary school in Gravesend for six years, before becoming a full-time writer. Her book THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Whitbread Children's Award.  She has won the Carnegie Medal twice, for THUNDER AND LIGHTNINGS and HANDLES.

Charlotte has always thought there's something not right about living in Compton Rosehay (aka Stalemate). Perhaps it's the plastic families, the identical rows of houses, or the girls who only talk about diets.When she meets Elaine, Charlotte sees there is life outside her stifling neighbourhood. Together they spot the cracks in the town's exterior, to discover the hidden world of Stalemate.

Jan Mark

When Andrew's family moves house, he strikes up an unexpected friendship with his neighbour Victor. There isn't a thing Victor doesn't know about the RAF planes flying overhead and the two boys are soon busy tracking their movements. 
Then Andrew discovers that Victor's beloved Lightnings are due to be scrapped... 
 
Thunder and Lightnings won the Carnegie Medal in 1976.

Jan Mark

Thunder And Lightnings

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