The Broken Mirror ― A Fable

One day Claire, to escape her quarrelsome parents, takes refuge in the dump behind her house. There she finds a broken mirror with the power to transform even the most drab reality into a fairy-tale world: the grey sky is reflected blue, and Claire’s modest, suburban house is transformed into the most beautiful castle. As Claire grows older, always accompanied by her magic mirror, she can see her face without her teenage acne, and her town before it fell victim to thieving property developers. But, in reality, libraries are being turned into luxury homes wherever she looks, and the boy Claire loves is her worst enemy. Frustrated and angry with the mirror’s illusions, Claire is about to destroy it when the mysterious Peter steps in: he has also found a shard of broken mirror, and so begins their journey to piece together the larger puzzle. Previously published in Italian, French, Greek and Dutch, The Broken Mirror comes to life in English for the first time.

Jonathan Coe's books include The Rotters' Club and Number 11. His honors and awards include the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Samuel Johnson Prize. Chiara Coccorese is an artist whose works have been exhibited in numerous museums and art shows in Italy and internationally, among them: National Archaeological Museum; Museo della Permanente; Palazzo Ducale; Museo MADRE; Pristine Gallery; Art Raw gallery in New York; and more.