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I’ve written 1,773 words on Sydney’s pre-war experience as a conjurer.

This is the opening of “Sydney, 1918-1940”:

In the carefully constructed origin story of The Piddingtons, Sydney’s previous experience as a magician simply disappeared.

The couple’s official biography, published at the peak of their career in 1950, reduced his pre-war experience as a conjurer to just 38 words. It said he had “as a schoolboy, practised conjuring.” Asked whether he was any good, Sydney replied: “No, not very. I haven’t done anything since I was at school.”

Readers were then told that his “limited knowledge of ‘magic’” failed him after only a few months in Changi.

I’m delighted to say I’ve reached the stage where I can start to write the book. A huge thank you to all the researchers, magic collectors and everyone else who’s helped me get here.

There are still a few gaps – more on those another time – but the next post you see should be about finishing the first chapter draft.

I expect to finish writing in 2027.