People
talk a lot about synchronicity, referring to those significant or
meaningful coincidences, and just recently three friends were reading
the same book of mine around the same time. This might not
sound so strange for a well-known writer but for a relatively unknown
like me, it was quite uncanny. Maybe it coincided with a
promotion I'd done, but then one of those reading this book would
have been unaware of such a promotion. Bear in mind too, that I
have over a dozen books, then it starts to seem more curious. The
book in question is a novel I wrote a few years ago called Savage
To Savvy.
The
plot is centred around a child reared by dogs, called
Nicki. Psychology
graduate, Heidi Harper is appointed to work with Professor Mala,
pioneer of a new project to rehabilitate Nicki. Heidi is soon asking
questions and her mission takes on sinister overtones. As the truth
outs, the lives of all concerned begin to unravel. Savage To Savvy is
a psychological novel about the ultimate forbidden experiment.
But the seeds for this novel were planted in childhood.
If
anybody read Bunty as a child and is old enough to remember a story
called The Taming Of Teresa about a child being reared by wolves
(1969/70) that story has stayed with me for years. In 1985 I wrote to
the publishers of Bunty as I wanted to read it again. Luckily
for me, they had the story in their Lucky Charm collection so they
kindly sent me a gratis copy, even though I'm sure I'd have offered
to pay. So at last The Taming Of Teresa and I were reunited!
Not
that I needed to be reminded of the story as I
had in fact committed large parts of it to memory. In fact, I
tried to recreate it in an old exercise book complete with childish
drawings. I think that must be because we had to throw out our old
comics each week, I imagine (or after a few weeks). In
fact, I used to remember the number of each installment and what
happened in each, so much so, that when I finally got a copy of the
Lucky Charm version over fifteen years later I saw that a small part of week
12 was missing – I distinctly remembered a man with a megaphone
searching the grounds of the country house for Teresa who was hiding
in a cave, or the like!
I
guess the story about a child being reared by a wolf, like the
ancient story of Romulus and Remus, taps into some archetype that
resonates with us. For
me, it stood out from the crowd, though I also had the usual favourites
that inspire a ten-year-old's imagination.
That
story was the inspiration, many decades later, for Savage To Savvy.
As a story for adults, though, Savage To Savvy has a much darker aspect. It refers several times to The Taming Of Teresa (Heidi's mother has kept copies) which becomes relevant in the context of the story.
The
other coincidence is the recent discovery of a site dedicated to all the
girls' comics of the time, including Bunty. That site - Girls
Comics
Of
Yesterday -
lists many of the old Bunty stories (as well as those in Judy, Mandy
etc). I swear I have searched the internet for any mentions of
The Taming Of Teresa before and the searches yielded nothing, not
related to the Bunty story anyway. And then I stumbled upon
this site to find that not only are there others who loved the story as I
did (that shouldn't be surprising, but it feels strange when you've felt in the wilderness with your passion for so long!) but the story was
also reprinted in 1979 to a whole new generation.
I'd
be interested to hear from others who remember this story, especially
those for whom it made a lasting impression.
For
more information about Girls Comics Of Yesterday
please visit:
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com
For
more in formation about Savage To Savvy or where to purchase it
please visit:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ASBQAE
Or
visit my website:
http://kjrbooks.yolasite.com/savage-to-savvy.php
I
have also recently created a Taming Of Teresa board on Pinterest:
https://uk.pinterest.com/brontebrothers/the-taming-of-teresa-bunty-story/
