Red ink

Sometimes lies are safer than the truthWhen her mother is knocked down and killed by a London bus, fifteen-year-old Melon Fouraki is left with no family worth mentioning.

Her mother, Maria, never did introduce Melon to a 'living, breathing' father.

The indomitable Auntie Aphrodite, meanwhile, is hundreds of miles away on a farm in Crete, and is unlikely to be jumping on a plane and coming to East Finchley anytime soon.

But at least Melon has 'The Story'. 'The Story' is the Fourakis family fairytale. A story is something. RED INK is a powerful coming-of-age tale about superstition, denial and family myth.