Exchange (novel)

Exchange was a standalone 2007 novel, written by Paul Magrs.

When it was first published, it didn't have any major DWU connections, but since then the characters and locations from this novel were brought into Enter Wildthyme (and its sequel, Wildthyme Beyond!), and these characters played extremely integral roles, making Exchange a necessary prerequisite to properly understand many characters in Enter Wildthyme and Wildthyme Beyond!.

This continuity between the stories is so deliberate and important, Enter Wildthyme is actually contradicts the real world geography of Darlington (where Enter Wildthyme, and retroactively Exchange, is set) in order to accommodate for Exchange.

Exchange was also adapted into The Great Big Book Exchange, a BBC Radio 4 drama, which was released just over a month later. The story was later re-released in Twelve Stories.

A short story, Collecting Ada Jones, also acted as a sequel to Exchange, situated between chapters seventeen and eighteen, after the death of Ada. This story would also be republished in Twelve Stories.

Publisher's summary
A bookshop crammed with wonders; a lost friendship rediscovered; sinister secrets and a terrible act of revenge.

Following the death of his parents, Simon, a shy 16-year-old, moves into his grandparents' claustrophobic bungalow. United by their voracious appetite for novels, Simon and his grandmother stumble across the Great Big Book Exchange - a bookshop with a difference. They meet impulsive, gothic Kelly and her boss, Terrance - and the friendship forged in the Great Big Book Exchange result in startling and unsettling consequences for all of them.

Plot
Simon is walking to his grandparents' bungalow after a trip to a supermarket, and some local bullies start taunting him. He keeps his head down, and keeps walking, thinking to himself about how much his life had changed since his parents' death. At the bungalow, his gran, Winnie, reassures him.

Characters

 * Simon
 * Bully
 * Winnie Thompson
 * Ray Thompson
 * Kelly
 * Terrance
 * Ada Jones
 * Simon's mum
 * Simon's dad
 * Ada's mum
 * Winnie's mum
 * Eric

Continuity

 * Simon, Kelly, Terrance, and the Great Big Book Exchange return in PROSE: Enter Wildthyme, Wildthyme Beyond!.
 * Simon recalls his parents' fate in PROSE: Enter Wildthyme.
 * South Road, the location of the Great Big Book Exchange, is seen again in PROSE: Enter Wildthyme.
 * Kelly's interest in gothic clothing and literature is continuous with PROSE: Enter Wildthyme, Wildthyme Beyond!.
 * The Exchange uses a trading system. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)
 * The Exchange has a coffee machine, which is regularly used by Kelly. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)
 * Ada Jones's death is covered in greater detail in PROSE: Collecting Ada Jones.