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Dutton
February 2015
On Sale: January 22, 2015
Featuring: Karl; Agatha Pantha; Millie Bird
311 pages
ISBN: 0525954686
EAN: 9780525954682
Kindle: B00KWG609C
Paperback / e-Book
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Literature and Fiction | Fiction
An irresistible debut novel about the wisdom of the very young, the mischief of the very old, and the magic that happens when no one else is looking Millie Bird, seven years old and ever hopeful, always wears red gumboots to match her curly hair. Her struggling mother, grieving the death of Millieβs father, leaves her in the big ladiesβ underwear department of a local store and never returns. Agatha Pantha, eighty-two, has not left her houseβor spoken to another human beingβsince she was widowed seven years ago. She fills the silence by yelling at passersby, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule. Karl the Touch Typist, eighty-seven, once used his fingers to type out love notes on his wifeβs skin. Now that sheβs gone, he types his words out into the air as he speaks. Karlβs been committed to a nursing home, but in a moment of clarity and joy, he escapes. Now heβs on the lam. Brought together at a fateful moment, the three embark upon a road trip across Western Australia to find Millieβs mother. Along the way, Karl wants to find out how to be a man again; Agatha just wants everything to go back to how it was. Together they will discover that old age is not the same as death, that the young can be wise, and that letting yourself feel sad once in a while just might be the key to a happy life.
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