It was an image I saw again and again – the image of a girl kneeling on her bed and looking out of a window wet with rain.

For which real person would permit us to look into their hearts as deeply as a storyteller permits us to look into his characters’? Into the deepest regions of their souls we may spy, see all their fears, all their love and all their dreams.Īnd there was something else that made me write Inkheart. Which book addict doesn’t know the feeling that the characters in a book can seem more real than the people around us? And there is of course a simple reason for that. I have dreamed for a long time of writing a story in which characters from a book come into our world. When I started to write Inkheart, I didn't suspect that this story would grow until it could fill more than one book.

Dustfinger said Capricorn would kill him if he didn’t hand over the book. ‘What’s going to happen when they realise he gave them the wrong book? It’s all your fault if they hurt him. ‘Oh yes? And what about Mo?’ Meggie’s voice was rising again. ‘I’ll tell them you stole the book and they ought to ask you where my father is.’ ‘I saved you – and this book!’ Elinor swung her legs out of bed, went over to the window and opened the shutters. ‘I’m going to tell the police!’ cried Meggie. ‘Or are you planning to stand there yelling your head off until you drop dead?’ Her voice sounded as brusque as usual, but it had something else in it too – a touch of guilt. She didn’t move until Meggie was struggling to get her breath back. ’Įlinor was sitting up in bed, staring at the flowers on her nightdress and saying not a word. You and that Capricorn are in this together! You had my father taken away, and who knows what you did with poor Dustfinger? You wanted that book from the start! I saw the way you looked at it – like something alive! It’s probably worth a million – or two million or three million. ‘And you brought those men here, yes, that’s what happened. ‘You stole it!’ cried Meggie, beside herself with rage. ‘That’s my father’s!’ Elinor woke as suddenly as if Meggie had tipped cold water over her face. ‘Where did you get that?’ she shouted, tugging the book out of Elinor’s arms, which were heavy with sleep.

Inkheart series order