The Simple Things

A heartfelt story told with warmth, perception and humour, in award winning Bill Condon's deceptively effortless prose. Ten-year-old Stephen has never met his great aunt Lola, and he doesn't want to. She sends him money twice a year and he always writes back, but he doesn't send her any love, because he can't lie. 'How can you love someone you've never met?' he asks. He decides you can't, not even for ten dollars twice a year. When he arrives with his parents at Lola's house, Stephen discovers she's grumpy, scary and really, really old. What will they have to talk about? He wants to turn around and go home, but his mum says they have to stay until Lola's birthday - three weeks away. Left to his own devices, Stephen learns about the simple things in life - like fishing, and cricket, and climbing trees - and the importance of family. Soon Aunty Lola entrusts Stephen with a great secret, and he realises just how much she has come to mean to him.