The Laughter of Fools

About the book

Who was the mysterious Rosa? Why did she visit the large house where Jeannie's mother works? What dark secret was she hiding? What hold did she have over the rich old lady upstairs, and Jeannie's hardworking mother downstairs?

How different the history of the world might have been if Rosa's father, poultryman Pegglar, creator of Pegglar's Fancy' and 'Pegglar's Pride', had not defied his elder sisters one year by going to the Annual Exotic Poultry Show alone!

When his prize hen breaks loose on the London Underground, attracted by the red plume in a fashionable hat, Pegglar impulsively marries the pretty wearer of the hat and transfers his attentions from chickens to children.

It is only after Pegglar's death that Rosa discovers what an astonishing man her father was - and only after Rosa's own death can Jeannie piece together the bizarre fragments of Rosa's free-ranging life to discover the curious, tragic truth.