The Facts of Life

The Facts of Life is a historical fantasy novel by English writer Graham Joyce. It was first published in the United Kingdom in December 2002 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in June 2003 in the United States by the Atria Publishing Group. It is set in Coventry, England after the end of World War II, with flashbacks to the Coventry Blitz when the Luftwaffe bombed the city on 14 November 1940. The Facts of Life was generally well received by critics. It won the 2003 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2003 August Derleth Award for Best Novel. The book was translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French, with the French translation (Lignes de vie) by Mélanie Fazi winning the 2007 Grand prix de l'Imaginaire, in the Traduction and Roman étrange categories. Joyce said his research for the chapter on the Coventry Blitz was assisted by interviews he conducted with eye witness accounts. This chapter was also published as a free-standing novelette entitled "The Coventry Boy" in the Autumn 2002 issue of the British horror magazine The 3rd Alternative. The novelette was one of the preliminary nominees for the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction. Plot introduction The Facts of Life takes place in Coventry, England immediately after World War II, and is about the Vine family, comprising Martha Vine and her seven daughters. Martha is visited by ghosts, and her youngest daughter, Cassie is clairvoyant. Cassie has a baby, Frank, from a liaison she had with a soldier during the war. Frank also has psychic abilities inherited from her mother and grandmother. Because Cassie is wayward and fey, Martha delegates Cassie's six sisters with the task of bringing up Frank. The story tracks the first ten years of Frank's life, and the Vine family who take care for him.