Cornish legends inspire new book by brave Bromham writer

Caron Judge has always had a love of Cornwall and its culture, particularly the tales of the mythical creatures.

And after being diagnosed with cancer 16 months ago she decided to write her first-ever book, entitled ‘Piskies Of Polperro’, with all her royalties going to charity.

Caron, who used to work at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, said: “Everyone in Cornwall knows about the piskies and has taken them to their hearts.

“Some people call the story fiction, I call it fairy tales mixed with fiction.

“The book is for all the family - children and adults. I wanted it to be for everybody.”

Piskies, also spelt ‘pixies’, are commonly associated with Cornwall and Devon, and are said to be benign, mischievous, and very short of stature, although they are capable of growing to human size if they wish.

Even after being told that her cancer was terminal Caron has continued to visit Cornwall, and has set her story in the village of Polperro.

But although the piskies had always appealed to Caron, she admits she never harboured any desire to write a book until she had her original diagnosis.

Her story features magic, piskies, and a special little girl who lives in Polperro.

Caron’s support workers would read and help edit the book as she wrote it - and one of them, Gail Webb, was particularly helpful as she has already had one book published and is now working on her second.

Caron said: “After my first diagnosis I thought I’d write the book, but I didn’t know how to do it. Before that it had never occurred to me as something I could do or that I wanted to do.

“Once I had cancer though, I just thought ‘I have to share these stories,’ and it all went from there.

“I asked Gail to help me put it together and she was fantastic, while the book gave me something to focus on.”

Piskies Of Polperro is available now from Amazon at £10.99 at https://amzn.to/2lR6RQO

All of Caron’s royalties will go to the Starlight Children’s Foundation which helps sick children and their families.