Tiffany Murray – författare

Coming of age in rural England in the eighties is far from straightforward for Kate Happy, in a hilarious, highly-praised debut novel of family, secrets and dead ancestors in the attic.Gran has been homesick for Coney Island for thirty-eight years, hating her husband but determinedly donning her best pink Chanel suit and high heels to step out into the muck-splattered farmyard. Grandpa is bonkers, an ex-naval Captain who wanders round the house shouting sea-faring commands. Mum's gone AWOL since she ran over Kate's dad in her soft-top Triumph Spitfire. And are those really Dad's ashes in a Hellmann's mayonnaise jar in the attic?Crackling with the darkest of dark humour, brimming with crazy ancestors and closely guarded secrets, HAPPY ACCIDENTS is a wonderful first novel that confirms Tiffany Murray as a rising star of British fiction.

A book of the year for the Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Guardian and the Daily Mail'Charming . . . heartbreaking, sometimes both funny and unsettling, and always - from start to end - very, very good' RODDY DOYLE'Magical . . . as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise, pumpkin soup and game pie coming out of Joan's kitchen' DAILY MAIL, BOOK OF THE WEEK'A love letter to a remarkable childhood. A total joy' SARAH WINMAN____________________________________________________________________________In a small corner of a field in Wales, Tiffany Murray is hiding with Boggle the dog, dreaming of her mum's moussaka, blackberry and apple crumble, and, if she's lucky, ice-cold lemonade. A sheep bleats. The smell of hay tickles her nose. The twang of a guitar and crack of a snare carry on the breeze.It's the late 1970s and Tiff lives with her mum, Joan, at Rockfield, the iconic recording studios. This place of legend, where some of the most famous rock albums of all time were recorded, is the background to a freewheeling, ever-changing whirlwind of a childhood. Tiff's days are spent running around the farm, making friends with local wildlife and helping out with the endless array of dishes her mum creates to keep the bands fed. She's looking for a dog, she's looking for a father; but the one constant throughout is her and Joan, building an unconventional family in the most unlikely of locations.My Family and Other Rock Stars is Tiff's remarkable, truly unique story of growing up in a rural idyll, of Cordon Bleu cookery and of a childhood where the chances of bumping into Freddie Mercury playing piano, or a group of Hell's Angels turning up to record for Lemmy, or even the hope of David Bowie appearing, were as normal as hopscotch and homework.____________________________________________________________________________'You will fall in love with Tiff, her hilarious non-nonsense mother Joan, and a cast of hungry rock stars from Freddie Mercury to Siouxsie Sioux. An utter treat' RACHEL JOYCE'Full of pop gossip that'll leave you starry-eyed, and written with a warmth and precision you'll want to savour for as long as you can . . . I didn't want it to end' SÉAMAS O'REILLY'Enchanting' INDEPEDENT, 20 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARLonglisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeMy Family and Other Rock Stars was the Daily Mail book of the week 17.05.2024

A book of the year for the Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Guardian and the Daily Mail'Charming . . . heartbreaking, sometimes both funny and unsettling, and always - from start to end - very, very good' RODDY DOYLE'Magical . . . as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise, pumpkin soup and game pie coming out of Joan's kitchen' DAILY MAIL, BOOK OF THE WEEK'A love letter to a remarkable childhood. A total joy' SARAH WINMAN____________________________________________________________________________In a small corner of a field in Wales, Tiffany Murray is hiding with Boggle the dog, dreaming of her mum's moussaka, blackberry and apple crumble, and, if she's lucky, ice-cold lemonade. A sheep bleats. The smell of hay tickles her nose. The twang of a guitar and crack of a snare carry on the breeze.It's the late 1970s and Tiff lives with her mum, Joan, at Rockfield, the iconic recording studios. This place of legend, where some of the most famous rock albums of all time were recorded, is the background to a freewheeling, ever-changing whirlwind of a childhood. Tiff's days are spent running around the farm, making friends with local wildlife and helping out with the endless array of dishes her mum creates to keep the bands fed. She's looking for a dog, she's looking for a father; but the one constant throughout is her and Joan, building an unconventional family in the most unlikely of locations.My Family and Other Rock Stars is Tiff's remarkable, truly unique story of growing up in a rural idyll, of Cordon Bleu cookery and of a childhood where the chances of bumping into Freddie Mercury playing piano, or a group of Hell's Angels turning up to record for Lemmy, or even the hope of David Bowie appearing, were as normal as hopscotch and homework.____________________________________________________________________________'You will fall in love with Tiff, her hilarious non-nonsense mother Joan, and a cast of hungry rock stars from Freddie Mercury to Siouxsie Sioux. An utter treat' RACHEL JOYCE'Full of pop gossip that'll leave you starry-eyed, and written with a warmth and precision you'll want to savour for as long as you can . . . I didn't want it to end' SÉAMAS O'REILLY'Enchanting' INDEPEDENT, 20 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARLonglisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeMy Family and Other Rock Stars was the Daily Mail book of the week 17.05.2024

“Murray’s latest novel, set in crumbling postwar England, brings a 21st-century sensibility to a haunted Victorian house. Sugar Hall is host to themes of slavery, migration, exploitation, and history’s habit of updating its uglier productions with new actors and costumes.” – David MitchellEaster 1955. As Britain waits for a hanging, Dieter Sugar finds a boy in the red gardens of Sugar Hall: a boy who wears a silver collar. In the great house, Dieter’s mother, Lilia, scrapes the rust from the locks, the ice from the windows and battles with her own ghosts. But there are pasts hiding with the moths and rats that Lilia cannot remove so easily. Sugar Hall holds a secret: a history that has been buried but not forgotten.Based on the haunting stories of Littledean Hall in the Forest of Dean, this is a superbly spine tingling tale, and the perfect accompaniment for dark nights. Selected by David Mitchell as one of his top six ghost stories.

The summer Elvis and Marc Bolan die, a new star is born ... and this is his story: a tale of fate, loss and rock 'n' roll, Diamond Star Halo shows what happens when a family and a farm become the breeding ground for fameGrowing up in a rural recording studio, Halo Llewellyn is rarely star-struck, but when one of the visiting singers gives birth to Fred, she knows right away that he's special. As the golden child grows into the gilded man, she remains dazzled by his ambition and his talent. Up on stage, being screamed at by hundreds of teenage girls, Fred will always turn his spotlight on Halo in the crowd. But that's the problem with falling in love with your charismatic almost-brother - it can never be a secret. In the end, the whole world has to know."A touching family chronicle with an impeccable soundtrack, this is Cider with Rosie for rock 'n' rollers" Mark Radcliffe"A beautiful, pitch-perfect harmony of Wuthering Heights and your favourite mix tape" Owen Sheers