In a Thousand Different Ways

In a Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern

I was immediately captivated by the imagery of an eight-year-old schoolgirl, Alice Kelly, walking down the street with an uneaten apple rolling around in her school lunchbox.

Alice can read the best and worst of people’s thousands of emotions, observing them as colours emanating from their bodies. She associates bright golden colours with positive emotions that reflect the best in people, while dark colours represent negative emotions.

Alice has a rare condition—synaesthesia—and struggles to cope with constant visual stimulation. To manage, she develops quirky habits from an early age, avoiding interactions with people and often wearing sunglasses and gloves.

Sent to a secondary school for disruptive students, Alice gains some tools to manage her hypersensitive nature. She learns to accept and master her ability to decode the colours and even realises she can manipulate people to her advantage.

The pivotal change in her life occurs when she encounters a rare individual she cannot read—a person with no colours. Instinctively, Alice senses this person may hold the key to mastering her condition and leading a fulfilling life.

The story explores themes of alternative healing and the existence of auras—colour-specific energy fields that play a significant role in Alice Kelly’s life.

Cecelia Ahern’s mastery of the written word enables readers to vividly experience Alice’s world through descriptive colour imagery, romance, and the dark reality of her early life.

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