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reads_eats_explores's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Set in the 1990s, ambitious reporter Tom Hargreaves stumbles across a scoop: a dead child on a London estate. At the centre of the suspicions are one reclusive family of Irish immigrants; others on the estate call them ‘degenerates’, ‘bad apples’. But are they even to blame, or is this a modern day witch hunt?
Fiercely ambitious Tom is determined to get to the bottom of the events, but he has a brisk disregard for the ‘peasants,’ i.e. anyone, not a celebrity or journalist; he believes that nothing should get in the way of a good story, particularly none of the ‘ordinary human failings’.
Tom convinces the newspaper to put the family up in a hotel with all expenses paid. In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations.
Told in a stream-of-consciousness style from various characters' points of view, this adds intimacy and depth to the narrative that would otherwise be difficult to achieve so well here. The author's exploration of love, desire, and mental health is poignant and beautifully done.
Nolan’s characters are tangible and diverse in their physicality and emotion. There is a grittily true sense of the familial ties of the Green family; Nolan’s observation of their inner and outer emotional lives and the predispositions to why they act as they do are spot on.
Ultimately this is a stunning portrait of what it is to struggle in the face of incomprehensible circumstances, of repression, and its resulting damage.
I expected this book to be more like ‘Acts’ a "messy woman" book which I adored, but this is much more of a thriller/mystery. And I loved it; utterly compelling reading. 4.5 ⭐
Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy.
Fiercely ambitious Tom is determined to get to the bottom of the events, but he has a brisk disregard for the ‘peasants,’ i.e. anyone, not a celebrity or journalist; he believes that nothing should get in the way of a good story, particularly none of the ‘ordinary human failings’.
Tom convinces the newspaper to put the family up in a hotel with all expenses paid. In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations.
Told in a stream-of-consciousness style from various characters' points of view, this adds intimacy and depth to the narrative that would otherwise be difficult to achieve so well here. The author's exploration of love, desire, and mental health is poignant and beautifully done.
Nolan’s characters are tangible and diverse in their physicality and emotion. There is a grittily true sense of the familial ties of the Green family; Nolan’s observation of their inner and outer emotional lives and the predispositions to why they act as they do are spot on.
Ultimately this is a stunning portrait of what it is to struggle in the face of incomprehensible circumstances, of repression, and its resulting damage.
I expected this book to be more like ‘Acts’ a "messy woman" book which I adored, but this is much more of a thriller/mystery. And I loved it; utterly compelling reading. 4.5 ⭐
Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Dysphoria, Medical content, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Murder, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Addiction
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