Product Description

Bestselling author Torey Hayden's novel is a fascinating study of a fractured family, a troubled child, and a psychiatrist's attempts to rescue them. Conor, aged nine, arrives in the play therapy room of child psychiatrist James Innes with the diagnosis "autistic". His mother Laura, an aloof, enigmatic novelist, can't handle him. His rancher father, embroiled in divorcing Laura, does not feel there is anything wrong with Conor. His six year old sister Morgana insists he really does see ghosts. As James becomes convinced Conor is not autistic, he is drawn first into Conor's strange world of "things the cat knows" and then into Morgana's stories of her friend the "Lion King". James is pulled most deeply, however, into Laura's world; at first that of a lonely, rather difficult woman and then, eventually, into the world of her imagination, an enthralling world that seems almost real - and that hides a terrible secret.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11963 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
'Torey Hayden deserves the kind of respect I can't give many people. She isn't just valuable, she's incredible. The world needs more like Torey Hayden.' Boston Globe

About the Author
Torey Hayden is an educational psychologist and a special education teacher who, since 1979, has chronicled her struggles in the classroom in a succession of bestselling books. She currently lives and writes in North Wales. Find her on MySpace at www.myspace.com/torey_hayden

Customer Reviews

Overheard in a Dream
I bought this book not realising it was a novel and it was only as I started I realised, I hadn't read the cover!! I love Torey's previous books so was a bit concerned as I started to read this that I wouldn't like it as much. How wrong was I, it completely overwhelmed me and I had to keep reading. I took breaks every now and then as there was a lot to take in, but I just couldn't stop reading. I have finished it now and it was amazing, I definitely would buy any further novels she writes. It really should have been on 'Richard and Judy's' list.

Cleverly written
Being Torey's first novel I was looking forward to reading this book. It reads differently to her past books. It is cleverly written, with reality and imagination entwined, and it definitely left the reader guessing right until the end. Even after finishing the book, I would still think about the parallel storylines and find further links that I didn't realise at the time of reading it. The only let down, which initially annoyed me at the beginning but not at the end, was the focus on the mother and her story. Being used to Torey focusing on the child in every book, it was frustrating not to have more to read on the boy. Nonetheless a lovely story and touching as always.

Overheard in a Dream = BRILLIANT
I have just finished this book and I must be the first to admit that the old age proverb Never judge a book by its cover has never been more real than in this instance.
I have read all the previous books by Torey Hayden and I was delighted to find that she had released a new book until I found out it was a novel, however since I began reading the book, I have been unable to put it down.
The way she brings two different worlds in one and makes you think that this has actually happened is brilliant.
The characters are believable right down to the ex-wife who is using the kids to get back against the ex-hubby. My only problem is now that I've finished the book, I want to read another, so if by any slim chance that Ms Hayden reads this, PLEASE BRING OUT ANOTHER NOVEL!!!
If you have never read a book by this author then you are missing out on someone who is able to "drag" you into a world where the only heros are the children and the adult who helps them because no-one else would!
To sum up (in-case you haven't already guessed) I loved this book and can't wait until either another is released or a sequal is written because I don't think we have heard the last from Connor and his family