WHEN YOUR CURTAINS START TALKING TO YOU, YOU KNOW THERE’S GOING TO BE TROUBLE…“
Curtain Twitching is an art, as Daisy learns when her crotchety old neighbour dies and is replaced by the intriguing McKenzie family. Within a week her life is turned upside down by the boy next door, who claims that his house is trying to kill him…
The thing is, he could be right…
(YA Romance/Ghost Story – 90,000 words)
SOME REVIEWS…
Georgina Ghaly (16)
“I read this book in three chunks, over a period of two days! I was hooked to the story and literally could not put it down! It’s the perfect read for many teenage girls like myself what with it covering dilemas we can relate to and also including the interesting element of the ghost story that leaves you desperate to read on to find out what happens next.
I fell in love with Daisy the main character almost instantly and could relate to her throughout the book, I didn’t see the ending coming at all it took me by surprise and completely blew me away!
It was by far one the best books I’ve read in a while, for the reason that not only did it have a phenomenal story but it took me on a journey with the characters as I felt I knew them so well and not many authors i know can portay this skill to take the reader on an journey and make them feel emotionally involved with the story but the author has done this flawlessly and the book has been lingering in my mind since.
It’s definitely up there in my top 10 best reads and I have already recommended it to two friends, and passed it on to one of them already :)”
Michelle Robinson
“I read The Curtain-Twitcher’s Handbook by Jo Danilo a couple of years ago and loved it. Since then I convinced my daughter Isla, to read it. Isla is dyslexic and will only read what really grabs her; it has to be worth the effort. She loved the Curtain-Twitcher’s. Just last night my youngest was on the hunt for a book as I said no to anymore Christmas movies! Now, my youngest at 12 is seriously selective about what she reads and when we stumbled across The Curtain-Twitcher’s on the bookshelf she said she would give it a go. I said goodnight to her at 9.30pm but realised the lights were still on at 11.30pm (secretly reading). This morning she needed a sleep in, or so I thought. I checked on her at 10am thinking it was a long sleep in and again she was reading the Curtain-Twitcher’s and in her words, “The best book EVER”.
I’m not sure what makes a best seller but somehow this one seems to have slipped through the cracks!”
Abigail Marsh
“Very very clever, and well written and funny to boot. A brilliant read – all the teenage angst explored, lots of real teen problems and a chilling (literally) plot to hang them all on. What with a feisty heroine and a handsome pouty hero what more can one ask. Oh, and no facile happy happy ending but a way of addressing some grown up problems as well. A great read.”
Available through Amazon:
Post for Curtain-Twitchers!
Photo Credit: Annie Spratt (Unsplash)
Jo Danilo | Writer 
The Curtain Twitcher’s Handbook was demolished on a rainy Saturday tucked up in front of the fire. It’s obviously written for an audience a little younger than a 47yo but it catches in all the right places; plot, mood, tension, even love! An easy chatty read with a chilling twist. Sounds like a crazy combination I know, but what makes it such an enjoyable book. In equal measure I wanted to slap the characters and hug them. Now how many writers can make you feel like that? Enjoy!
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Loved this book! Daisy made me laugh, and Will was super hot – phew! Must admit there were some bits that creeped me out too, which is always a plus. Good read.
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Sounds like I achieved all my goals with you 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to give some feedback!
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Excellent! I was really impressed.
This novel combines lively action, humour, vivid descriptions and characterisation in an expertly woven creepy supernatural adventure alternated with prosaic high school life in a small Yorkshire town.
There is a curse on a house by Tinker’s Wood, and it must begin and end with a death.
When new neighbours move next door to the protagonist Daisy May and her mother, something re-activates it from its decades long sleep.
This is a scarcy story, and a funny and a sad one. It’s full of action and vivid descriptions, tersely recounted. I was hooked from the moment I read of foul Mr Braithwate, and his habitual saluation to all – with two fingers.
The protagonist Daisy is a delight; unlike so many heroines,who leave all the wise cracking to the boys, she even retains her wicked sense of humour after she falls in love (I don’t think it’s writing a spoiler to say that she does that ) and retains her sense of identity, too. She’s tender and tough if a bit diffident. She comes from a one parent family, and they’re hard up, and she has to work to help out, but she doesn’t whinge.
Daisy has normal teenage concerns – whether or not to agree to her boyfriend, the school’s prize athlete Fred, taking things further: after all, she’s sixteen now and, they’ve been going out for a couple of years…
But she is dismayed to find herself unaccountably attracted to the new boy in town, Will Mckenzie, soon to become an object of fascination among her friend group. Daisy, who blames him for allowing her dog to be run over, is in a quandary about her mixed feelings over him.
This male lead, Will, is as lovable a hero as Daisy is a heroine – even when he turns Daisy’s life upside down,you have to love him. Daisy is puzzled as to how she comes to attract two of the most desired boys in the school; the reader sees it as evidence of her attractive personality.
The pace is quick, the characters real, the humour perfectly balances the grim happenings, and I found it – here’s a cliche – ‘A real page turner’.
The story begins with the body of the unpleasant Mr Braithwaite being taken from the house next door, where he has lived alone since the mysterious disappearance of his wife many years ago. This sets Daisy off on a new activity for her – ‘curtain twitching’.
She has never spied on him before, as: ‘He had nothing to show me except for his slow crawl into urine-scented senility. There was more entertainment to be had watching bananas slowly rotting in a fruit bowl.’
But then the McKenzies move in and Daisy becomes fascinated by what is going on in the house. What makes Will act so oddly when he is in his room, and why does he feel the need to avoid going home? How does all this tie in with the story her Grandfather tells her, of the disappearance of an encampment of gypsies from Tinker’s Wood at about the same time of Mrs Braithwaite’s disappearance?
Try it yourself. You won’t want to put it down (I didn’t, and sadly I’m no YA).
Finally, here are a few of my favourite quotes.
“Death to begin it.” The whisper tore my eyelids open and made me spin round with a gasp. It was so close I could have sworn I’d felt the whisperer’s breath tickle my ear. I stared hard into the blackness but there was nobody there. Nobody at all. I heard the fear in my own uneven breathing. The Braithwaite light surged again, flooding the lane with a brief light and sending the same shooting pain into my temple. “Death to end it.’
‘A gentle breeze made the trees whisper and sway, and patches of sunlight danced across the floor. Everything was tinged with spring green, even the sound nearby fields, the soothing song of the wood pigeon. And through the tree trunks were glimpses of the patchwork hills and chocolate-brown moors beyond the wood, stretching on and on.’
“I wish I had half of what you have,” Will continued. “My grandparents never bothered with me and my parents aren’t interested in anything I do.”
‘He’s a little bit hunched over, as if he has a heavy pack on his back that weighs him down. But all this new vulnerability only enhances his charm. Everyone wants to look after him and take away his hurt.’
‘I twisted round frantically, to see whose dreadful claws were clutching my waist, adrenaline using my veins as a Grand Prix circuit.’
‘He looked awful, the whites of his eyes shot through with red and his skin so pale. Like a dead boy.’
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Awesome review! Thanks so much! I’m very glad you enjoyed it 😀
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