​L. Sydney Abel​

12 year-old Timothy Other’s origins are a mystery. He has lived all his life at the orphanage where he was abandoned as an anonymous infant. The Dreams and Hopes Orphanage, run by the magnanimous Mr. Penny, is a happy place, filled with love. But Timothy’s world crumbles when Mr. Penny dies. The orphanage is repossessed by the bank, and comes under the draconian rule of the horrid Mr. Sterner (with his ‘custard-crease smile’) and the scaly-skinned Ms. ‘Fishy’ Finn.

 

Timothy escapes from the orphanage hidden in a basket aboard a removals lorry, which is then put on a cargo plane. The plane crashes, hurling Timothy into a strange land and a bizarre, surreal adventure. Following the crash, Timothy is befriended by a giant mouse called Leopold and an enormous caterpillar called Edwin, who become acquainted with a huge, hairy creature called Borgorov. He is the custodian of the mystical berry bush that (along with Marzipan Mountain) is the centerpiece of this peculiar world. Eating its berries brings on changes, which become reality.

 

Whilst on Marzipan Mountain, Timothy begins to reflect on his own existence and is aided by Borgorov. Together, Timothy and his friend set off to find their way to the Dreams and Hopes Orphanage.

 

Intertwined with Timothy’s adventure narrative are two further strands, set back in the ‘real’ world. Mr. T. W. Itling, the timid banker whose job it was to foreclose on the orphanage, is visited by a Mr. Hargreaves, who claims to be the only living relative of Mr. Penny, the orphanage’s late owner. This visit opens up a complicated and gripping conspiracy strand, in which Hargreaves is in pursuit of a legendary story of ‘Golden life’. In a parallel strand, Mr. Itling investigates the mysteries and intrigues that surround Timothy Other’s origins. The plotlines unite when Timothy and his amazing friend return to the orphanage. There, they team up with Mr Itling against the evil forces trying to seize the fortune.