Page 177 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
JA:We started it to help Georgie explore the experience, didn’t we?
GA:Therapist after therapist suggested I write it down. I did, I wrote exactly what happened, but it didn’t help. If anything, it gave theexperiencemoresignificance. So we changed the narrative, to a positive, vibrant story …
JA:The first book, when Tilly discovers she’s an angel …
GA:It was a revelation, that I could control what happened. Make it my own. Do you remember that, Jess? It helpedsomuch.
JA:It was cathartic.
GA:It was, and readers picked up on that. They loved it.
JA:They love it still. We’re hoping to revisit those characters, when the girls are both at school full time; we’ll go back to it, won’t we?
GA:Tilly, Ashleigh, Joe and … Gabriel have to navigate their thirties, after all.
JA:Like our readers. [Aw, I can see what they mean. They obviously love the books. EC]
AB:Ashleigh. Is Ashleigh a real person?
GA:I owe my life to Ashleigh. [Is that Jess shushing her here? EC] She’s Tilly’s soulmate inMy Angel Diaryfor a good reason. She doesn’t have that name any more …
JA:And before you jump to any conclusions, it’s not me.
GA:She gave us her blessing to use it.
AB:What role did Raphael – Christopher Shenk – play in the Alperton Angels case?
GA:I don’t know. He wasn’t part of our … family. I only saw his picture in the paper afterwards. Maybe he was a friend of …
AB:Gabriel? You struggle to say his name even now. How did he convince you and Jonah to believe you were angels and a baby was the Antichrist? It’s such an incredible lie. Did he prove it in some way, say with magic tricks, or—
GA:Nothing like that. If you don’t understand how we could have believed lies like that, it’s because you haven’t met a predator who saw your vulnerabilities. Who gave you what you wanted and manipulated you, all while making you feel as ifyouwere the one in charge. You just haven’t met them.
JA:Yet.
AB:I understand how rewriting the story has helped you. But theactualstory. There’s something about the truth of this that needsto be told. To help others in similar situations now, or in danger of falling for coercive individuals in the future—
JA:We disagree.
GA:We won’t be telling our children what happened to me.
AB:Really?
JA:They don’t need the weight of that history on them.
GA:Nor do I want the story told. Ever again.
AB:I understand, but it won’t go away—
GA:It will.
JA:Two hundred thousand pounds. More than you’d ever make from the book. We’ll sign the documents here and I’ll transfer the funds immediately. Take yourself on holiday. Buy whatever you want. Think about it for a few minutes if you like. [Wow, Mand. They must really want this to go away. You’re quiet for ages. Just think of what you can do with all that money! EC]
AB:I wondered why there were no true crime books about the Alperton Angels. You pay off anyone who gets this far. I guess Mum and Dad didn’t squander the entire family fortune after all.
GA:I don’t like doing it, but it’s for us and our children.
AB:What happened to the baby?
