7.2 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Publication date 2003 ISBN 0-340-82049-7 (UK) Adaptations Half Broken Things (2007) Awards Silver Dagger | 3.6/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 320 pp Originally published 2003 Publisher Hodder & Stoughton Genres Crime Fiction, Mystery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback and paperback) Similar Morag Joss books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Half-Broken Things is a 2003 psychological thriller novel by English author Morag Joss. It won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2003.
Contents
Plot
The lives of three very lonely people—pregnant Steph, on the run from her violent boyfriend; Michael, a petty thief who becomes her knight in shining armour; and Jean, a sixty-year-old spinster nearing the end of her career as a house sitter—collide dramatically within the grounds of the illustrious Walden Manor, where together they seal themselves away from the outside world and build a new life together. The fantasy cannot last forever though, and events take a murderous turn when the first unexpected guest arrives.
Film adaptation
Half-Broken Things was adapted for television in 2007, starring Penelope Wilton, Daniel Mays and Sinead Matthews. The two-hour drama, directed by Tim Fywell and produced by Festival Film & TV, aired on ITV on 28 October 2007.
Filming locations
The entire 2007 television production was filmed in Kent, with Boughton Monchelsea Place being the main location, which doubled as Walden Manor. Herne Bay featured briefly at the start of the film as the location where Jean (Penelope Wilton) is staying before being handed her final house sitting job. KCC country park Teston Bridge also featured briefly in the film as the rural location where Micheal (Daniel Mays) changes out of disguise and back into his clothes, and the village of Teston was the setting of the local village, where the post office doubled as Haleton Village Shop.