Personality

Our summary description

As Independent Scottish booksellers, we write all of our descriptions personally, we hope you enjoy this one.

On a small Scottish island, thirteen year old Maria Tambini has a great singing voice and a restless desire to escape her ordinary life. She wants the big time, and when she wins a national TV talent show she becomes an instant star, launched into attention she has barely had time to imagine.

From the outside she is celebrated as the girl with the giant voice. Inside, she is losing herself, caught in fame and in a private battle with her own body. The ordinary protections of childhood fall away, replaced by pressure, expectation, and the hunger of other people’s gaze.

As her new life gathers speed, love is held out as a possible lifeline. Against it are forces already closing in: celebrity itself, family secrets, and a number one fan whose devotion does not feel harmless. The question is whether anyone can reach Maria in time, or whether stardom will take her somewhere she cannot come back from.