Prissy
Comments:"The disintegration of the gang is handled with rare skill ... the political scenes are fully and convincing ... A highly enjoyable and beautifully constructed read. It’s tailor-made to be a cracking good movie."
The Scotsman
“Exciting to read … the vengeance Prissy wreaks on her captors is horrifying.”
Evening News
“A crisp, powerful and vastly entertaining new novel. It is a masterly, scrupulously pared piece of writing by Mr. Hanley”
The Sunday Express
Published:London, Collins 1978
London, Fontana 1978
Prissy was the Prime Minister’s daughter but she might have been the daughter of the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker; she would still have been remarkable among 14-year olds for her precocity, her determination and her unwavering good sense. It was her father’s position, however, which led her to being kidnapped by extremists, drugged and incarcerated in a remote country house.
What would a girl do in such a plight? Weep? Curl up into a frightened ball and pretend it hadn’t happened? Prissy was not superhuman – she knew terror as any other 14-year old – but she pulled herself together. Criminals were usually stupid, she told herself, and she could and would outwit them.
And so, coolly and competently, she settled down to plan her counterstroke, an operation which she intended should not only free her but also bring just, and even terrible retribution on her kidnappers.
The story is an enthralling and exciting one; the background of 10 Downing Street, where the distraught Prime Minister debates the ethics of paying a vast ransom, is sketched in with vivid authenticity; yet this is above all the story of Prissy. Clifford Hanley evokes this tough, bright, indomitable child with a warmth and affection that makes her one of the most memorable heroines or our time. Reading this book, you will surely feel that it would be fun to have a daughter like Prissy; it would be chilling to have her as an enemy.
Jacket painting by Clifford G. Hanley
What would a girl do in such a plight? Weep? Curl up into a frightened ball and pretend it hadn’t happened? Prissy was not superhuman – she knew terror as any other 14-year old – but she pulled herself together. Criminals were usually stupid, she told herself, and she could and would outwit them.
And so, coolly and competently, she settled down to plan her counterstroke, an operation which she intended should not only free her but also bring just, and even terrible retribution on her kidnappers.
The story is an enthralling and exciting one; the background of 10 Downing Street, where the distraught Prime Minister debates the ethics of paying a vast ransom, is sketched in with vivid authenticity; yet this is above all the story of Prissy. Clifford Hanley evokes this tough, bright, indomitable child with a warmth and affection that makes her one of the most memorable heroines or our time. Reading this book, you will surely feel that it would be fun to have a daughter like Prissy; it would be chilling to have her as an enemy.
Jacket painting by Clifford G. Hanley
Copyright 2025 The Estate of Clifford Hanley