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freddie's review against another edition
3.0
The story offers a panoramic description of a character's childhood. The tone is a bit strange as it flip flops between sinister and sunny. The sinister part is especially so as it is about a older man sexually harassing and grooming the main character as a young girl - I find that part well-written as it describes the girl's fear, anger, guilt and confusion vividly. However that subplot somewhat fizzles out with a rather unsatisfying resolution.
msvenner's review against another edition
4.0
This was a lovely book, disturbing in parts, but very real.
martialia's review against another edition
4.0
Little sparkless at the beginning but once I was drawn in I was held. Aching story lines were told in such a gentle, truly childlike way. Quirky and powerful.
happyglowlucky's review against another edition
5.0
I found a copy of this book in a used bookstore, when I was backpacking through Europe as a young woman. I was 24 then. I'm 44 now, and this is still one of my all-time favourite novels. That's how good it is. It stays with you, and stays, and stays. The writing is beautiful, and strikes that pefect balance between not-too-sparse and not-too-wordy. It transports you to another time, and place. As a Canadian in her 40s, I now feel like I had a peek into a 50s British childhood.
Some of the one-star reviews say that it's filthy, or dirty, or disturbing. Well, guess what - it's supposed to be disturbing. Disturbing things happen, and we have to talk about them, not just sweep them under the rug; talking about them brings them out into the open, where they belong. As for calling it dirty or filthy, no, it's neither - it tackles difficult subjects with grace, elegant writing, and sensitivity.
A number of reviewers seem to think we should just not talk about these things, and let abuse continue to go on, thanks to everyone's hush-hush attitude about it.
Beautifully written, it reads in many places like poetry. The characters are multi-faceted, and real. It's a stunning book, one I'm sure I'll still be reading in twenty more years.
Some of the one-star reviews say that it's filthy, or dirty, or disturbing. Well, guess what - it's supposed to be disturbing. Disturbing things happen, and we have to talk about them, not just sweep them under the rug; talking about them brings them out into the open, where they belong. As for calling it dirty or filthy, no, it's neither - it tackles difficult subjects with grace, elegant writing, and sensitivity.
A number of reviewers seem to think we should just not talk about these things, and let abuse continue to go on, thanks to everyone's hush-hush attitude about it.
Beautifully written, it reads in many places like poetry. The characters are multi-faceted, and real. It's a stunning book, one I'm sure I'll still be reading in twenty more years.
serenephedra's review against another edition
3.0
A story of innocence, childhood, beauty and destruction.
I can’t work out if the lack of direction in this book was it’s or evidence of its genius. What I thought was going to be a gentle, pastoral coming-of-age (and to and extent, it was) turned out to somehow be an insight into some of the darkest parts of the adult world but told through the eyes of a child.
Nothing really HAPPENED as such in this book, events weren’t really concluded and I was left with a lot of questions and uncertainties but I do think that this might have been entirely deliberate.
The one thing that really stood out for me was the utterly beautiful descriptions of rural England that you could really relate to and experience - I knew exactly what the author was conveying and there was some true excellence in the writing style here.
I can’t work out if the lack of direction in this book was it’s or evidence of its genius. What I thought was going to be a gentle, pastoral coming-of-age (and to and extent, it was) turned out to somehow be an insight into some of the darkest parts of the adult world but told through the eyes of a child.
Nothing really HAPPENED as such in this book, events weren’t really concluded and I was left with a lot of questions and uncertainties but I do think that this might have been entirely deliberate.
The one thing that really stood out for me was the utterly beautiful descriptions of rural England that you could really relate to and experience - I knew exactly what the author was conveying and there was some true excellence in the writing style here.
nocto's review against another edition
4.0
Picked up off the bookshelf in our holiday cottage - by Darren actually who thought I might like it based on the fact that he'd read another of Mackay's books years ago. And I did. Found it all a bit flowery at first (mostly due to reading it hot on the heels of Ian McEwan I think) but it paints a vivid picture of a 1950s village childhood. Some aspects of it I found a bit stereotypical but in the end they didn't distract from the overall tale.
schopflin's review against another edition
2.0
Shena MacKay is a great writer but I found this novel's mixture of sinister mood and comedy, warmth and violence, satire and sentiment a bit indigestible. The framing device was unconvincing and unnecessary and I was irritated by the final elegy for a 1950s village life that was so thoroughly cruel and unpleasant. Still the characterisation was superb and the setting vivid.
hallymichelle's review against another edition
3.0
I would probably give this 3 1/2 stars really. I ordered the book after hearing Jacqueline Wilson and Richard Osman discuss it on the radio and thought it sounded right up my street as I love retrospective books, especially warts and all portrayals of childhood. I thought I was used to reading very tragic and dark books but found this one especially uncomfortable and unsettling. I think this could be because I expected the nostalgic to outweigh the sinister but this was not the case. At times I found the slightly more humorous parts irritating as I was unable to enjoy them due to the seriousness of the Mr Greenidge situation. I was also disappointed by the ending. I did, however, really enjoy some of the descriptions, and the portrayal of Ruby and April's relationship. I loved the references to some of my other favourite books like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, and found myself absorbed by the book, finishing it quickly.
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