A Stitch in Time

Author: Lively, Penelope

General fiction (Children's / Teenage)

Published on 9 April 2026 by HarperCollins Publishers (HarperCollins) in the United Kingdom as part of 'the HarperCollins Children's Classics' series.

Paperback | 224 pages
130 x 199 x 15 | 152g

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A rediscovered children's classic, winner of the 1976 Whitbread Award, from the Booker Prize and Carnegie Medal-winning author of Moon Tiger and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe.

Maria likes to be alone with her thoughts. She talks to animals and objects, and generally prefers them to people. But whilst on holiday she begins to hear things that aren’t there – a swing creaking, a dog barking – and when she sees a Victorian embroidered picture, Maria feels a strange connection with the ten-year-old, Harriet, who stitched it.

But what happened to her? As Maria becomes more lost in Harriet’s world, she grows convinced that something tragic occurred…

Perfect for fans of mysteries like Tom’s Midnight Garden, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, Charlotte Sometimes, and My Friend Walter, A Stitch in Time is a classic of children's literature, from Booker Prize, Whitbread Award, and Carnegie Medal-winning author Penelope Lively.

This new HarperCollins Children's Classics edition features an introduction by Michelle Magorian, author of Goodnight, Mister Tom.