Diane Connell on a force to be reckoned with in 'The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird'

Good Reading Podcast

Ricky Bird loves making up wild stories for her little brother Ollie. Her outlandish plots and whimsical characters help fortify them against the hopeless reality of their lives. Her father has abandoned her and her family has moved to a bleak new neighbourhood. Worse still, her mother's new boyfriend has come with the furniture. Ricky's greatest weapon is her imagination and she uses it to set her world to rights. But despite her best efforts Ricky's world starts to spiral out of control, that is, until a gypsy fortune teller makes a life changing prediction. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Diane Connell about the incredible power of storytelling, how sadness and laughter can coexist, and the challenges for young girls growing up in a world with unlimited possibilities but also of dangerous consequences.