After she had finished, we had fun with a mini ‘interview’ about the book which worked as I had read it too). I hope there will be a Varjak Paw movie one day, but it is very hard to get movies made. I wrote a little bit about this here: Thank you so much for that amazing comment! It's brilliant to hear that you still remember my books, after all this time. I always hoped they might be the kind of books that people kept and re-read again as adults. And I'm a huge fan of SE Hinton and Harry Potter too, so that really means a lot.

From the Contessa's red velvet armchair, where he stood, the Elder Paw began to speak. ‘The family tales tell us that when our ancestor Jalal came out of Mesopotamia, he wandered the earth for many years, before finding a home with the Contessa. Generations of Paws have lived in this house since Jalal's time. But those days may be coming to an end. I believe the Contessa is dead.’I love this book. It's also very interesting. I love the way that Jalal taught Varjak the seven skills. Can't wait for the book tyger. Have you read the book "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane?" Having said that, as a Londoner, I couldn't help imagining it as my own city, so there are definitely places in both Varjak books that are inspired by London locations.

I am absolutely fine with teachers reading my books aloud by any means available during school closures - in fact I'd be honoured, so you won't get any complaints from me! My publishers are the people you really need to get permission from, though - they've put up some guidelines here: And finally, the best part about my job is hearing from readers like you! I don't find writing easy - Varjak took me 5 years to get right, and I'm currently 6 years into writing my new book TYGER - but all the hard work feels worthwhile when someone like you says they've enjoyed my books. I live in South East London and I love the references to recognisable landmarks in the book. I walked past Vanbrugh Castle near Greenwich park the other day and wondered if that was the inspiration for the Contessa's house. I'd love to know if there any other locations I could visit from the book. So as you can see, it takes me a long time to write each book - but it's TOTALLY WORTH IT when I get a FANTASTIC comment like that!I was looking the Varjak Paw books up to see if there was a third and came across this. I'm just leaving a comment to say that the Varjak Paw books were a couple of my favourites that I read as a child (I'm 23 now) as well as The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and the HP series. My name is Maddie Paige and I'm going into my final year of college before (hopefully) attending university next year. Currently, I'm starting my EPQ (extended project qualification) which is an additional subject in which you research something which interests you and present your project at the end of the year. I have chosen to base my EPQ on the importance but also the change in children's literature throughout time, and I wondered if it would be at all possible if you could answer a few questions which would help my project immensely. But Elder Paw,’ protested Father, eyeing the bowls of caviare. ‘Family Council is only for emergencies. It's—’