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MURPHY'S BOY American current paperback
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MURPHY'S BOY Swedish original edition
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MURPHY'S BOY British paperback
MURPHY'S BOY British hardback original 1984
MURPHY'S BOY American paperback 2000s
MURPHY'S BOY American original paperback

Murphys Boy | Silent Boy

MURPHY’S BOY (SILENT BOY) remained Torey’s favorite book for many years.

“I felt I had found my writing voice with MURPHY’S BOY, “ she says.

“My youth showed a little too much for comfort in ONE CHILD and I would completely re-write SOMEBODY ELSE’S KIDS, if I had my choice.”

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Meet The Author

Torey Hayden

Invisible Girl UK Cover – Torey Hayden

The Invisible Girl

By

In foster care after having experienced violence, neglect and sexual abuse as a young child, Eloise, age 14, has created a fantasy companion for herself, leading to confusion for the social workers trying to help her, because they do not know what is fact and what is fiction.

Then Eloise develops a troubling obsession with another teen.  In a mistaken belief Torey Hayden can help reunite her with this girl, she agrees to work with Torey, who is challenged to meet Eloise’s complex behavioural needs.

Lost Child UK – Torey Hayden
Lost Child USA – Torey Hayden

Lost Child

By

In a forgotten corner of Wales, a young girl languishes in a home for troubled children.  Abandoned by her parents, Jessie, aged nine, is at risk of becoming just another lost soul in the foster system. Precocious and bold and convinced she is possessed by the Devil, Jessie is utterly unprepared for the arrival of Torey Hayden.  Armed with patience and compassion, Hayden begins working with Jessie, and then Jessie makes a stunning accusation against one of Hayden’s colleagues.  Hayden’s work doubles.  Now she must not only help Jessie with her troubles but also find out if what the girl alleges is true.

Ziji and the Very Scarey Man
JUST ANOTHER KID Swedish paperback edition

Ziji | and the Very Scarey Man

By,

This book, written by renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and educational psychologist Torey Hayden shows young children how following our breath can calm us down—and how practicing compassion shows us that even Very Scary Men can be frightened sometimes too.

A detailed appendix at the end of the book gives further guidance for parents and teachers.

Innocent Foxes

By

“The thing you got to understand about foxes,” Dixie said, “is that they’re innocent of what they’re doing. They got no idea they’re destroying what they love most.”

Abundance, Montana, once a lively mining town in the days of the wild west, is now not much more than a ghost town.  Local girl, Dixie, a struggling single mother who has just lost her baby, tries to make ends meet while her feckless boyfriend Billy drifts from one job to another, always believing his next moneymaking scheme will be the winner.

Above them in the magnificent mountains surrounding Abundance, jaded Hollywood actor Spencer Scott conceals himself from the paparazzi on the ranch that has been his pristine sanctuary until the arrival of his obnoxious, nine-year-old son.

Then Billy puts into motion a plan almost too appalling to contemplate, and from which there is no escape.  As all four are forced to confront the brutal reality of the Montana mountains, so too are they forced to face their damaged lives in this moving new novel of loss and redemption from bestselling author Torey Hayden.

Ziji | The Puppy Who Learned to Meditate

Ziji | The Puppy Who Learned to Meditate

By,

A very special book for children aged 4 to 8 written by Torey and Tibetan lama and meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche which, along with the story of Ziji’s adventures, includes an appendix for parents and teachers with suggestions for using meditation with young children.

Ziji is a noisy, bouncy puppy who lives with the Anderson family – Mom, Dad, Jenny and Baby Jack.

He loves to bark and play and – most of all –chase pigeons in the park.

Then one day Ziji sees the new boy from Jenny’s school, Nico, sitting in the park. What is Nico doing? Why does he look so calm and happy? Ziji can’t wait to find out.

His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy.  He didn’t talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn’t been out of the building in the four years since he’d come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn’t take a shower.  He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes.  He was nearly 16.

Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin’s adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked. Then he started to draw and paint and showed himself to have a quick wit and a rolling, seething, murderous hatred for his stepfather

Hayden writes very readably. Though Kevin must have been scary, he is rarely scary to her and this is not a frightening book. It is reassurance we all need. In the wreck of this world, love still works. We can heal each other, if we listen.
Christina Robb

Where Are They Now?

Torey has lost track of Charity.

Now in his thirties, Kevin is leading a successful and fulfilling adult life.  He has sent the following message to readers:

Hi.  I’m the person who was Kevin in Torey’s book, MURPHY’S BOY, and I want to say that things are okay for me now. I graduated from high school and then I went to community college for two years. I got a job in a hospital after that and I am still working in the same place. I like it very much.

I got married to my wife Sue after college and we have a wonderful little boy named Daniel. He is the most important thing in my life and I try to be a good father to him. He is a happy boy who loves baseball so I think we are doing a good job with him.

Now we also have a second son who’s name is Matthew.

Jeff is now in his fifties.  He still lives in California and continues his work as a psychiatrist.

Thanks to everyone who is interested in what became of me.  Torey and I had some spectacularly exciting times together.  Lots of fun.  Lots of laughs.  Torey’s sense of humor transformed those years for me.  I’ve had fulfilling, meaningful years since but I’ve still never laughed as much.

I’ve had a pretty good life.  I’m in a long-term relationship with my partner, Bill, and we have a 10-year-old adopted son, Charles. I have moved, career-wise, to working with people suffering from sociopathic and severe psychotic disorders.  It is demanding work but very gratifying.
I hope everyone enjoys Torey’s web site  I’ve read through it and it makes me feel just like I’m back there with her.  Believe me, Torey writes just like she speaks, so this is pure Torey.  Enjoy!

Murphy’s Boy available from amazon.co.uk

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Lost Child UK – Torey Hayden
Lost Child USA – Torey Hayden

Lost Child

By

In a forgotten corner of Wales, a young girl languishes in a home for troubled children.  Abandoned by her parents, Jessie, aged nine, is at risk of becoming just another lost soul in the foster system. Precocious and bold and convinced she is possessed by the Devil, Jessie is utterly unprepared for the arrival of Torey Hayden.  Armed with patience and compassion, Hayden begins working with Jessie, and then Jessie makes a stunning accusation against one of Hayden’s colleagues.  Hayden’s work doubles.  Now she must not only help Jessie with her troubles but also find out if what the girl alleges is true.

Ghost Girl

By

In writing GHOST GIRL the issue Torey wanted to address specifically was the difficulty professionals have in interpreting maladjusted behavior.  At the time of writing GHOST GIRL, she was concerned at the number of people jumping on the various “bandwagons”, such as satanic and ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder, and such and wanted to show just how hard it can be from the professional’s standpoint to determine what exactly is happening – and how easy it is to allow personal bias to affect diagnoses.

GHOST GIRL was Torey’s first book to upset publishers and to be returned for re-writing.  They disliked the unclear ending.  As it is a true story and not fiction, Torey found it difficult to come up with a more suitable ending.   The issue was resolved by including a lengthy epilogue which had to be rewritten fifteen times before it was accepted.

GHOST GIRL went on to become Torey’s second most popular book after ONE CHILD.  It reached the best seller list in five countries.

Torey still is not certain what really happened to Jadie.

Invisible Girl UK Cover – Torey Hayden

The Invisible Girl

By

In foster care after having experienced violence, neglect and sexual abuse as a young child, Eloise, age 14, has created a fantasy companion for herself, leading to confusion for the social workers trying to help her, because they do not know what is fact and what is fiction.

Then Eloise develops a troubling obsession with another teen.  In a mistaken belief Torey Hayden can help reunite her with this girl, she agrees to work with Torey, who is challenged to meet Eloise’s complex behavioural needs.

JUST ANOTHER KID British hardback edition
JUST ANOTHER KID American paperback 2000s edition

Just Another Kid

By

Torey didn’t set out to write about Ladbrooke in JUST ANOTHER KID.  She only intended to write about the children and include Ladbrooke only in her capacity as aide in the classroom. But as the book progressed, Torey was surprised to find it had become Ladbrooke’s story.

Alarmed that her publishers might not like this deviation from the synopsis they’d purchased, she mailed the 250-page uncompleted manuscript in a panic to her editor over Christmas that year to find out if she should proceed. Fortunately, everyone liked the “story that wrote itself”.

Twilight Children

Twilight Children

By

When special education teacher Torey Hayden left the classroom for work in a children’s psychiatric ward, a diverse trio entered her life.

Twilight Children is the story of one determined woman and three individuals battling overwhelming odds.

Told with compassion, sensitivity and humour, it is a powerful, unforgettable books that reminds us of the strength and beauty of the human spirit.