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Back When I Was Ten Save as PDF
Chapters (79)
  1. Cover
  2. WHEN I WAS TEN
  3. Dedication page
  4. Epigraph page
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART ONE
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  30. PART TWO
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  52. PART THREE
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  77. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  78. WHEN I WAS TEN
  79. Also by Fiona Cummins

Grateful thanks must also go to Michael Greenwood for refreshing my memory about newspaper practice, James Brabazon for advice about cameras and for supplying one of my favourite lines in the book, Laura Shepherd-Robinson for her insights into the messy world of politics, Linda Dove at Marie Curie for answering my questions in such a helpful and thoughtful way, and Patricia Nkere-Uwem for her fabulousness regarding all things Jamaican.

Thank you, as always, to the brilliant booksellers, librarians, reviewers, bloggers, readers and all my crime-writing compadres who ride this rollercoaster with me. A special shout-out to Jake Kerridge, Jon Coates, Nina Pottell and Deirdre O’Brien, four members of the press who are nothing like some of the characters in When I Was Ten and who have been so supportive from the very start.

This book was inspired by the dark deeds of child killer Mary Bell, who had been living under an assumed name for some years when the press tracked her down, preparing to unmask her. She was forced to wake up her young daughter in the dead of night and reveal her true identity. I wondered what that might feel like. I’m indebted to Gitta Sereny and her book, Cries Unheard.

While taking a life can never be excused, there are many children living in homes where they are humiliated and abused by those who are supposed to love them most. The damage that causes is immeasurable. As a society, we owe it to those children to protect them.

Seven years ago, when my own children were small, I took a leap of faith and gave myself permission to write. No safety net. No guarantees. As my writing career has flourished, I’ve been privileged to watch them grow into the very best kind of humans. Like everything in my life, this book is for them.

WHEN I WAS TEN

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Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former Daily Mirror showbusiness journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing A Novel course. She lives in Essex with her family. When I Was Ten is her fourth novel, following Rattle, The Collector and The Neighbour.

Also by Fiona Cummins

Rattle

The Collector

The Neighbour

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