Sophie McKenzie's story about The Kingdom by the Sea

I only started writing fiction seriously about five-and-a-half years ago. Until then I read books purely for enjoyment – looking to be sucked into the minds of the characters and the world of the story. I still read books first and foremost for the fun of it, of course, but now that I write them I also try to work out how the authors of books I love have managed to create such masterpieces
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The Kingdom by the Sea by Robert Westall changed my life because it was the first book I read, since starting to write seriously, that seemed to me to do everything right.

For a start, there’s the opening… Harry is an ordinary boy living somewhere in the north-east of England, during the Second World War. An air raid siren wakes him and he stumbles sleepily towards the shelter in the back garden of his family home. Then a bomb falls and everything around Harry is destroyed – his home, his family… his whole life. Talk about starting with a bang! This is an inciting incident, to use Robert McKee’s phrase, that truly grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go. Where will Harry go? What will he do? How will he survive?

Harry runs away to avoid being sent to his Cousin Elsie. He finds a dog, Dan, and they live rough, never sure where their next meal is coming from. We learn a lot about Harry’s background and personality too – but always in the context of an action-packed and powerfully dramatic story.
We see Harry grow up, becoming more resilient and self-reliant on every page. We learn about the Second World War – the way it affected the home lives of the adults and children who lived through it. We learn about loss too. For all his keen sense of survival, Harry remains vulnerable and is often lonely. And we are inspired by the beautiful way that something good and positive can emerge from tragedy and despair.

It’s not easy to write like this – to convey so much information with such ease and economy… to express so much emotion while never lapsing into sentimentality or melodrama.
And, finally, the story ends. I didn’t see the ending coming so it came as a wonderful and gut-wrenching shock. This denouement is horrible and true and right and wrong and completely convincing. All at once.

The Kingdom by the Sea changed my life because it showed me just how great a story can be. This book does everything I’d like my own books to do. In other words, it inspires me to try harder to be a better writer.
And it’s still, always, a fantastically enjoyable read!