Tale of Toxic Positivity
The author of the hit parody The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadfully Teddy draws on the simple, idyllic world of Beatrix Potter to shed light on some of the most pertinent issues of our time.
Beatrix, a refined and gentle lady, decides to relocate to the countryside to escape the chaotic city and exorbitant house prices of London, in search of a simpler, more holistic life. Looking forward to painting cute rural animals and writing stories about their charming ways, she desires nothing more than to surround herself with nature and to practice mindfulness and kindness. But after months spent in isolation during ‘hibernation’, all the local wildlife emerge grumpy, sweary and having forgotten all their social skills – Jemima Puddleduck has even been cancelled. Will Beatrix’s new small garden and spare room make all this aggro worth it?
Paul Magrs brought out his first novel in 1995 when he was 25, which has been followed by many more. He has lectured in Creative Writing at UEA and MMU, and in 2019 he published his book on writing, The Novel Inside You. In lockdown, he started drawing cartoons and his first ‘picture’ book, The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadful Teddy, was a huge hit for Christmas 2021. Paul lives in Manchester with his partner Jeremy and a very large collection of books (many of them written by him).