title: Natural Flights of the Human Mind: A Novel
author:  Clare Morrall 
description: Grappling with larger-than-life issues of guilt, redemption and forgiveness, Morrall showcases the kind of quirky characters and improbable plotting that made her debut, <I>Astonishing Splashes of Colour</I>, a finalist for Britain's prestigious Booker Prize. Is a 50-something hermit, Peter Straker, responsible for the deaths of 78 people a quarter-century ago, when he crashed his small plane into a moving passenger train? The coroner ruled the crash an accident, but the details are hazy in Peter's memory, part of his former life as a drunken playboy. Eaten by guilt, Peter doesn't speak except to the 78 victims, who now live in his head: "There isn't room in his mind for anyone else." For two years, he has corresponded with the passengers' families under false pretenses, fueling his own guilt and inciting the families to seek him out for revenge. When morose, embittered Imogen Doody, a 40-ish school caretaker and writer, inherits a dilapidated cottage near the decommissioned lighthouse where Peter lives, Peter begins a tentative engagement with the world of the living, pursuing an unlikely relationship with her. Morrall is a deft guide through the landscape of grief, but her artistic prose can distance readers from her characters. <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Keeper  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Morphid Chronicles
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
        
      
  
  
  
      To Isabella and Alexander
  
  
  
      You make life shine
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 1 - Greg
  
  
  
  
  
  Greg Papilio wanted many things, and most of what his heart desired hinged on
  his impending metamorphosis.
  
  
  
  
  
  Today, though, all he wanted was to pass the trig test that lay in front of
  him. But, to his mounting horror, it didn’t look like that was going to
  happen. He stared at the page. This final was kicking his butt. He hadn’t even
  managed to get past the first few questions. A drop of sweat slid off his
  forehead and splattered onto the paper, forming a gray circle. He wiped a hand
  across his brow and looked at his watch. Only thirty minutes left?
  
  
  
  
  
  What?! That was it? Where had the last couple of hours gone?!
  
  
  
  
  
  His mind was hazy, his vision blurry. Greg shook his head, trying to dispel
  the dream-like state that clouded his thoughts. Suddenly, he felt as if
  pir