The Tale of Truthwater Lake: 'Absolutely gorgeous.' Hilary McKay

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Experts says that if temperatures continue to rise at the current rate, the Earth could be 5.4°C hotter by the year 2100. My next book takes its inspiration from Houdini. During his act he'd often challenge members of the audience to come onto the stage and handcuff him, yet would always break free. I wonder what would happen if, for once, he couldn't get out of the handcuffs? So yes, my next book is historical. As for writing something non-historical one day, never say never! There is so much going on in this book. The first timeline is set in a disturbingly believable dystopian future where notifications tell you when the government has issued a daytime curfew to avoid the heat: the second timeline is an uber-cosy 1950s village life complete with work horses, luxury bars of chocolate and feisty friendships. Partly because it made sense to, in the context of a hot summer, a dried up reservoir, and a village emerging from the water. And partly because it's a reminder of the price we pay for progress. It's a very obvious example of how the world around us is constantly changing and impacting on the natural world as it does so.

The story is a time-slip adventure set in the near future and in 1952. I was inspired, firstly, by a book called 'A Boy in the Water' by Tom Gregory, which is his account of swimming the English channel as an 11 year old boy. It's a true story and an incredible read.

Essential when she and her brother have been sent to their aunt's eco lake-side house for the summer. But Truthwater Lake is beginning to dry up. As the water level diminishes, a lost village emerges. Swimming over the rooftops at midnight, Polly dives down and is suddenly able to breathe, to hear church bells and bird song . . .

It's a really intriguing moment in history where things could've gone so badly wrong. It's also a very good example of diplomacy in action: Robert Kennedy and his Russian counterpart talked their way out of the conflict. Because of American airbases on British soil, we would've been drawn into any war with Russia, so the situation was perilous for us, too. The main surprise for me was how close we came to actual war. Some of the sources now made public would've been top secret at the time, and certainly make for chilling reading!" Nellie’s life changes—but not in the way we expect—when a swimming celebrity arrives at the Syndercombe Lido to select a young swimmer for a media-sponsored Channel swim. Nellie and her best friend Lena must plot and plan to help the chosen swimmer achieve the Channel swim and make all their different dreams come true. The weight of the storytelling is with Nellie, as she also negotiates different kinds of separation and loss, trying to keep Lena with her as Syndercombe collapses into water. When Nellie’s story arrives in 2032, Polly’s story reasserts itself. We understand the lessons she has learned from being Nellie and about different kinds of courage. On one side of the underwater street is the remains of a house . . . It's beautiful here, and eerie, a lost kingdom, a ghost village . . . Probably that rationing was still in force, and that some homes, especially in the countryside, didn't have electricity or inside toilets.

It had a lot of potential, but... sigh. I loved Letters from the Lighthouse (or is it "to the Lighthouse"?), but as beautiful as my copy of this one is, I'm leaving it behind in England. It's not one I'll keep in my home library. This will not, however, keep me from reading more books by Carroll. The Tale of Truthwater Lake” is a captivating story about two young girls separated in time but both learning how to make their own mark in the world, to be loved and accepted by those around them.