The portrait of a beautiful girl with tumbling red hair takes on sinister undertones in this unnerving tale from much-loved, multi-award-winning author Anne Fine.
Jess’s mum is furious when she discovers a muddy, football-shaped splodge on her bedroom wall and sends Jess on a mission to find something to cover it up. Luckily, Jess manages to bag a bargain in her local charity shop: a beautiful portrait of a girl with tumbling red hair in a frame exactly the right size.
But when she hangs it in her room, Jess is plagued by disturbing nightmares featuring the young Araminta from the portrait. At first Jess’s mum and her friend Tina think that she is making it it up, but they’re soon in for a shock when they experience the power of the painting for themselves …
Reviews
"A spooky, supernatural short tale guaranteed to send shivers down the spine … It may be short in length, at just over 50 pages, but it masterfully encapsulates a deliciously dark, creepy story. I have no doubt it will hold young readers entranced." — Book Craic, blogger
About the author
Anne Fine is an award-winning author who was the second UK Children’s Laureate. She has written over seventy books for children and amongst her best known are Goggle-Eyes, which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Carnegie Medal, Madame Doubtfire, which was later adapted into the film, and Flour Babies, which won the Carnegie Medal.
