Book of Pearl

Timothee de Fombelle is a much-admired French playwright, as well as the author of award-winning fiction. His first series, Toby Alone and Toby Alone and the Secrets of the Tree has been printed in 27 languages and has won numerous awards including France’s prestigious Prix Sorcières and the Marsh Award. Timothee's adventure series, Vango, Book One: Between Sky and Earth and Vango, Book Two: A Prince Without a Kingdom received huge critical acclaim, and book one was granted an English Pen Award for translation. Timothee also contributed to the acclaimed collection The Great War: an Anthology of Stories Inspired by Objects from the First World War. Timothee lives in Paris.Sarah Ardizzone is one of the most sought-after translators working today. She is twice recipient of the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, for Eye of the Wolf by Daniel Pennac (2005) and Toby Alone by Timothée de Fombelle (2009). Sarah appears regularly on the book festival circuit and curates programmes around translation for all ages – including Translation Nation and Translators In Schools. Sarah lives in London, SW2.Sam Gordon is a London-based translator of Arab Jazz by Karim Miské, which won a 2014 English PEN award and was shortlisted for a CWA International Dagger in 2015. Sam also translated Captain Rosalie, a short story by Timothee de Fombelle, which appeared in the Walker Books anthology The Great War: Stories Inspired by Objects from the First World War.

A compelling story of a first love that defines a lifetime.