One thing that became obvious as the work of sanitising the attic progressed was that my sister and I had very little idea of the sort of things ‘normal’ almost-fourteen-year-olds liked. My sister had a record player, but used it primarily to play BBC sound-effects records and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which she seemed never to tire of. Similarly, I liked painting, but mostly enjoyed painting historical methods of execution.
