Malcom Charles Peet, also known as Mal Peet, was a famous English author and illustrator. Peet wrote ‘Life: An Exploded Diagram’, a semi-autobiographical novel in 2011, which later also became his last book for young adult readers.

In this book, Peet unveils the horrors of war and how close the human race was to destroying ourselves through the narration of young Clem Ackroyd about how his family survived World War I and II.

The story went on as he found Frankie, the love of his life, and their love story kicked start with the backdrop of the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis. Owing to the brutality as well as drug and sexual description, many question Peet’s decision to classify it as reading material for teenagers. Why do you think he regarded this as a young adult publication? Would you agree, and why?

The book started off with Clem’s family history. Why do you think Peet places such emphasis on the Ackroyd family history, and what does that reflect about the ongoing wars and terrorism?

Why is it that Clem and Frankie, a pair of young lovebirds, only came to understand the depth of the connection they shared decades later, when opportunities and violence once again attempts to shatter their lives?

As Goz puts it, ‘she Mortimer you Ackroyd’. What do you think Peet is intending to reflect when he paints a love story between the pedestrian Clem and wealthy Frankie? Some compare them to the classic Romeo and Juliet. How are they similar, and in what aspects do they differ?