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Piers Torday sheds some light on the real life political scandals which inspired and informed his final book, The Death of an Owl, in the Daily Express.

Piers Torday

“The labour of love to finish my Dad’s last book”

Piers Torday on finishing Death of an Owl by Paul Torday for Daily Express

Piers Torday sheds some light on the real life political scandals which inspired and informed his final book, The Death of an Owl, in the Daily Express.

Piers Torday: finishing his father’s last novel

Paul and Piers Torday

When Paul Torday died before completing work on The Death of an Owl, his son, children’s author Piers Torday, faced a dilemma: dare he do it for him?

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  • I had been living on the edge for the last couple of weeks. If I were truthful maybe for the last couple of years. Maybe ever since I had left the army. I had started looking over my shoulder again, mostly at things that weren’t there. Camilla, my girlfriend at the time, used to say I had paranoid tenden- cies. I used to reply that, if she’d been where I’d been, she’d be paranoid too. It was a small thing, but it irritated her. Then at a party we had a falling out. It was one of those arguments like a summer thunderstorm, violent but not ser- ious; at least I hadn’t thought it was at first. I can’t remember what the particular row was about. We were always having them. Anyway, I walked out of wherever we were at the time – a party, somewhere in Kensington – and went to a pub and had a drink. Then I had another drink.
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News:2022 Prize Judges announced

Delighted to announce the prizes for the Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2022, presented in conjunction with the Society of Authors. They are Mavis Cheek, Denise Mina and Donald S. Murray (our 2020 winner.) The Paul Torday Memorial Prize is awarded to a first novel by a writer over 60. The prize includes a set of... Read more »

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News:Kathy O’Shaughnessy wins Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2021

Kathy O'Shaughnessy has been awarded the 2021 Paul Torday Memorial Prize for In Love With George Eliot.

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News:Paul Torday Prize 2021 open for entries!

Deadline 30th November 2020, 5pm

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News:2023 Prize open for submissions

The winner will receive - from 2023 on, an increased prize of £3,000, with a set of Paul Torday’s collected works.

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News:Jane Fraser takes Paul Torday Prize 2022 for Advent

A well-deserved winner, it is an outstanding tale, made all the more unforgettable and powerful by its remarkable hush"

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News:Fourth Paul Torday prize shortlist announced

"Judging the Paul Torday Award was like embarking on an exploration of the world"

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