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hodgeonlucy's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was a triumph, a feat of dirt and grit and pain that reflected the North East at the time of writing. Each chapter was wonderful in its own right; each character was perfectly formed and nuanced, complicated in their own way but bound together by shared determination and strength. The topics covered in the chapters are hard and challenging; rape, abortion, abuse, poverty. But they are important to read about and recognise, especially from a gendered lens. Barker did this wonderfully, writing truthfully and beautifully the trials of being a woman in the North East at the time. The characters - each at a different stage of their lives - epitomised the main struggles attached to their position. Each navigated them in different ways, as fully-formed and complicated characters. The similarities between them were realistic and derived from their shared context rather than any stereotypes. Overall, this book was simply wonderful - challenging, sad, and gritty but, at moments, joyful and inspiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
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