Dear Olly
Michael Morpurgo

Illustrated by

Christian Birmingham

For Daniel Bennett

Dear Olly,

I have often thought of writing a story in movements rather than chapters – like a symphony. But for this I needed a story with three distinct yet linked themes, each with a different mood. Perhaps it was the moods and rhythms of the seasons that suggested this to me. And for me, it is swallows that are the magical conductors of the seasons.

I came across two stories that enabled me to compose my symphony story: one movement here, at home on the farm in Devon, one in Africa – and the two themes linked by a third, the swallow’s flight from home to Africa.

I heard of a young Frenchman, so moved by the misery and horror of war and suffering in Rwanda that he gave up everything, and left at once to help in the only way he knew how.

Then, a good friend of mine suffered a dreadful car accident. Full of admiration, I watched how he coped with the pain, with the change it brought to his life. I charted his recovery, his rebuilding of himself.

Dear Olly, is a story about nobility and courage, courage against all the odds – the young Frenchman’s, the swallow’s and my friend’s.

I hope you love reading it as much as I loved writing it.

MICHAEL MORPURGO

September 2000

Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Dedication

Dear Olly,

Olly’s Story

Hero’s Story

Matt’s Story

Keep Reading

Acknowledgements

Also by Michael Morpurgo

Copyright

About the Publisher

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