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Galaxy Exclusives

• Themes in TELL IT TO THE SKIES
• Venice and the role it plays in Tell it to the Skies

Themes in TELL IT TO THE SKIES

FAMILY AND RESPONSIBILITY

Family is at the heart of TELL IT TO THE SKIES. Family secrets, family lies, what people do within families to protect each other, and how they can inflict pain on those whom they love most. For some, the responsibility of their family comes easily because of promises they make:

‘With her eyelids feeling so heavy nothing in the world would keep them open, and the warm, dreamy sensation of sleep wrapping itself around her, Lydia murmured that of course she would take care of Val. It was an easy promise to keep.' (extract from Chapter 7)

Whilst for others, caring for others doesn’t come so easily:

‘…while Valerie was having her afternoon nap their grandmother was hammering out wrinkles and creases with a hot spitting iron and complaining about the extra work she now had to do…’ (extract from Chapter 11)

And sometimes the responsibility of being the person who is cared can be overwhelming:

‘It was me who was at fault. I wasn’t an easy sister. I got all the attention from our grandmother, there wasn’t any left you… And the worst of it was; I was so desperate to be Grandma’s favourite, I couldn’t show you how much I loved you.' (extract from Chapter 62)

DEALING WITH THE PAST

The past can be a happy place, full of sunny childhood memories and loving families. But not for everyone, and dealing with bad things that happen in the past, such as unkindness or death, can be difficult. For Lydia Turner, the past has been a particularly bad place:

‘No-one had asked Lydia this before. Decisions and assumptions had been made on her behalf because of what her mother had done, but not one single person had actually asked her how she felt at the time. Now that someone had, she wasn’t sure how to answer.’ (extract from Chapter 18)

Even when the past contains difficult thoughts and images, taking refuge in the past can help. For some, this means trying to feel physically close to someone who has died:

'To feel closer to Dad, she often went round the house touching things that he must have touched when he was little – the door knobs, the handrail on the stairs, the bathroom taps, the light switches.' (extract from Chapter 11)

But TELL IT TO THE SKIES tells us that ultimately, realising that the past is what creates the present is key to finding happiness.

`The past is so long ago,’ Valerie replied mechanically and without appearing to consider Lydia’s words. `It isn’t something we should allow ourselves to dwell on.’ `I disagree,’ Lydia said. `The past is right here in this greenhouse. It’s us, Val. You and me.’ (extract from Chapter 59)

TRUE LOVE

Nothing beats the excitement of first love – the thumping heart, the first kiss…

‘He lightly brushed her lips with his. She shivered. He kissed her again and she pressed her mouth closer to his. She closed her eyes, lost in the sweet wonder of how magical something as simple as a kiss could make her feel.’ (extract from Chapter 37)

But it’s not always all hearts and roses. First love, true love, can bring a host of anxieties to any girl:

'In Lydia’s head sex was to be avoided at all costs, and for the following reasons. A) It was dangerous and likely to end in pregnancy, thereby killing all chances of a decent future. B) It was shameful and her grandfather would kill her if he found out. And C) It was wrong. It was a sin. Wasn’t it?' (extract from Chapter 38)

And in the end, can first love last? Is it really how people say, that true love never dies?

`For all these years, I’ve felt your presence in my subconscious. Sometimes it was in my dreams. Sometimes it was when I heard a song from when we were growing up. And sometimes it was in the fleeting glance of a stranger’s profile or a gesture. I tried to forget you. I tried so hard. But you were always there…’ (extract from Chapter 54)

Venice and the role it plays in Tell it to the Skies

Erica James writes about how Venice influenced the writing of Tell it to the Skies

• Venice and the role it plays in Tell it to the Skies [venice's_role_in_tell_it_to_the_skies.pdf.pdf] (2.07 MB)

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