So I stopped worrying about who would read this. And Rae was born, and Splinter and Oscar; then Lettie kicked her way in and took me on a road trip. In sixteen months I was done. I entered the finished novel in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, was short-listed, and found a publisher.

There are many ideas behind A Million Things, but for me, at its core, it is two things: it is a love letter to Rae and all the kids who cope with shadowy things outside their control, and it is a love letter to her mother, who did the best she could and loved her child fiercely, but, despite all the love, in the end it just wasn’t enough.

READING LIST

A small selection of adult fiction with child protagonists from the author’s bookshelf.

Say You’re One of Them—Uwem Akpan

The Elegance of the Hedgehog—Muriel Barbery

Room—Emma Donoghue

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close—Jonathan Safran Foer

Golden Boys—Sonya Hartnett

Of a Boy—Sonya Hartnett

Dog Boy—Eva Hornung

The Kite Runner—Khaled Hosseini

Let the Right One In—John Ajvide Lindqvist

Shadow of the Wind—Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Sour Heart—Jenny Zhang

The Book Thief—Markus Zusak

About the Author

Author photo by Kevyn Lee

Born in Tasmania, EMILY SPURR lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her partner, their twins, and a deaf, geriatric cat. Short-listed for the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award, A Million Things is her first novel.

CONNECT ONLINE

EmilySpurr.com

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