4 February 2010
My good friend, Dr Erica Smith, a psychologist, says two very important things to me when I speak to her about Janet’s missing five days – or fugue state.
She says that no-one buries good things that have happened in their lives, only bad things – although these things can be brought back to the surface again with good psychological therapy, possibly including hypnosis. … More Janet And I Meet For The First Time
I make a list of possible interviewees, it includes Fred Handford’s daughter, Katrina and the Derbyshire Police … More My Research Begins
30 January 2010 I’ve just finished reading Janet’s life story. I call her and launch straight in with talk of Fred’s disappearance. This is the part of the story I am particularly interested in. Yes, I realise the funny stories of farming life are great, but I think the glaring gaps: the lost five days … More Did He Commit Suicide?
NB THESE ARE MY NOTES, JOTTED DOWN IN 2010, BEFORE I STARTED WRITING THE BOOK. Nine months go by in Janet’s life and it is now March 1976. Janet seems to be doing the brunt of the work on the farm while Fred appears to be suffering from depression; he is either now scared of … More I Finish Reading The Manuscript And Realise I Have More Questions Than Answers
28 January 2010 (cont) I carry on reading Janet’s manuscript, fascinated by the world she describes in the 1960s in the Peak District of Derbyshire, but feels, to me, like a generation earlier. In 1963, when Janet is 13 years old, she goes looking for grazing for her pony, Lucky, and Fred Handford at … More Janet Meets Fred Handford For The First Time
28 January 2010 Just days after my phone conversation with Janet the 70,000 word manuscript arrives, typed neatly on yellow paper. I read it one sitting. It starts with a bang. There’s a vivid description of an horrific nightmare that’s incredibly intense and literally leaves me reeling then, second paragraph, Janet starts her story again … More Janet’s Original Manuscript Arrives
Originally posted on The Stranger In My Life:
21 January 2010 I was standing in the queue at Marks and Spencer’s, waiting to return a dress. I was about to start a new job, sharing an office with a bunch of graduates only slightly older than my daughter and the last thing I wanted to…
The first telephone conversation with Janet and already I’m hooked … More We Carry On Chatting
21 January 2010 I was standing in the queue at Marks and Spencer’s, waiting to return a dress. I was about to start a new job, sharing an office with a bunch of graduates only slightly older than my daughter and the last thing I wanted to look like was a 40-something freelance writer who’d … More The Day It All Began
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