AustLit

'A Child at Heart is the soul-stirring true story of a child in foster care. Five-year-old Marie needed a home for only a few weeks. Like a tsunami, her arrival overwhelmed the comfortable and ordered lives of the author and his wife.

'The few weeks stretched into months, then years. Imperceptibly, things were changing. Warfare gave way to an uneasy and exhausted truce, then, finally, to deep and mutual love. Previously repressed under the weight of premature responsibility and anxiety, a delightful child emerged through fantasy and play.

'Hers became a charmed household of children's tales and make-believe into which the author and his wife plunged willingly. It was a dreamlike existence set against an uncertain future. And like all dreams, it could not last. ' (Publication summary)