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The Girl Who Raced the World by Nat Harrison is a fresh adventure with a classic twist.  Following the same route as Jules Verne’s Phineas Fogg, readers are in for a timeless adventure with a brave and curious young girl right in the middle of things.  Recently out in paperback, The Girl Who Raced the World is a great addition to your reading for pleasure collections!

Nat Harrison has very kindly shared with us how this story came to be and what discussions and curiosity she hopes is in store for new readers…

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Brains are funny old things, aren’t they? It’s amazing what your mind can squirrel away, saving the scraps, burying the smallest morsels, until one day, it unearths the best idea at precisely the right time. That’s certainly how it felt when I first had the idea for my children’s novel, The Girl Who Raced the World. It was as if someone had prised open a time capsule and waved the contents in the air, hollering ‘hey, remember this?’

It happened back in 2019, in my very first class at Bath Spa University. I’d been lucky enough to be accepted onto the MA in Writing for Young People programme. Our tutor gave us five minutes to write down what story we wanted to tell; what was our ‘big idea?’ Everyone started scribbling immediately but I sat there, utterly blank, with no ideas and all the fear. My mind scrabbled about frantically, digging in the corners, until finally, it unearthed a memory.

 I’d just turned ten years old. Our family had packed up our belongings, said goodbye to everyone we knew, and moved halfway around the world to Hong Kong. I’d never really been outside the south-west of England before; not even to Wales. So, when I stepped off the plane into the stifling heat of a Hong Kong summer, it was like stepping through a portal to a completely different world. Everything was different and strange and exciting and a bit scary. Like all the best adventures.

 Thirty years later, back in the classroom at Bath Spa University, I started scribbling. Yes, that’s what I wanted to write – an adventure story! One with a young girl right in the middle of all the action. I wanted to write about sailing across vast oceans, trekking through jungles, racing around the world…

Around the world?

 My mind dug up another memory. We came returned to England when I was thirteen years old and I was miserably homesick for Asia. Then Michael Palin beamed into our living room with his brilliant TV show, Around the World in Eighty Days, bringing Hong Kong, and the rest of the world with him. I watched the recording of that show until I warped the tape.

 Back at Bath Spa, the five minutes was up. I knew what I wanted to write. A reimagining of one of the greatest adventure stories ever told, Around the World in Eighty Days by the great Jules Verne. But where to start with retelling such a classic story which was first published in 1872? How close should I stick to the original? How many new characters should there be?  Why retell the story now? Or at all?

First, the creative decisions. I have a real love for the original story, so I plotted the same route and retained the beloved characters of Mr Fogg, Passepartout, and Detective Fix. Then I set to work on creating a story that would excite readers today, with fast-paced action, unexpected twists, and a new cast of characters to join the journey. I wanted readers to get to know the existing characters too and find out what makes them tick, something I always craved when reading the original story.

I also wanted to put a young person right at the heart of the story. When I read the original, I’d wanted to be the explorer racing around the world, noticing all the things Mr Fogg and the other adult characters were missing. Who better to marvel at the wonder of the world than a young person with fresh eyes? Much of Maggie’s wonder and astonishment mirrors my own when I arrived in Hong Kong and I wanted to infuse that excitement into every page.

Then there were the practical considerations of retelling a story that is more than one hundred and fifty years old. For example, historical place names have changed over time; Bombay is now the vibrant city of Mumbai, and Calcutta is the cultural hub of Kolkata. I chose to use the names that Maggie would have experienced in 1872, rather than those we use today, and I hope the differences might spark the reader’s interest. We also understand much more about animal welfare and know that capturing wild elephants and forcing them to work is unforgiveable. I wanted readers to understand how many things have evolved since the original story was written and hopefully create an opportunity for discussion.

Then there’s the question of why reimagine the story now, in 2025, when the world is such a different place. I believe there’s something truly magical about being transported back in time, before airplanes and bullet trains and phone screens were invented. The incredible response from readers would suggest that I’m not the only one who enjoys a exploring the world by steamship, steam train, wooden dhow, and ice sledge.

One of the most rewarding parts of writing The Girl Who Raced the World has been the feedback from booksellers, librarians, and teachers across the country. They’ve told me countless real life examples of how adventure stories can capture the hearts of even the most reluctant reader. There’s nothing quite like a great adventure to get people reading, especially if they’re in a rut or they’re struggling to find a book they truly enjoy. A heart-thumping adventure story, it seems, is often the ticket to a lifelong love of reading.

So as The Girl Who Raced the World finds its way into the hands of readers around the globe, my hope is that people of all ages will be swept up in the journey of a lifetime with Maggie Appleton and her friends. And when they finish the last page, I hope they’ll be racing off to find their next great adventure story.

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Many thanks to Nat for sharing this insight into her whirlwind world wide adventure.