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Wow! Sarah Crossan is one to watch.
This book explores so many difficult themes, including loss, identity, homelessness, domestic violence, dementia and elder neglect, and it does so beautifully. The stories and struggles of three very different women, Allison, Marla and Kelly-Anne, are intricately interwowen. The male characters in the book, such as Allison's cruel and violent father and Donal, Marla's seemingly heartless son, sabotage the happiness and wellbeing of our three heroines. Interstingly, the more minor female characters are flawed from the condescending carer, Peggy, to the entitled and ungrateful teenager, Lucy. So while I felt incredible compassion towards Allison, Marla and Kelly-Anne the book was balanced by the more flawed minor female characters, than if it had been a 50 / 50 split of wonderful women being stymied by hateful men.
Marla brings incredible humour, while Allison's intelligence and empathy in caring for Marla conveys a wisdom far beyond her years. This book is both heartbreaking and uplifting. The strength that Allison garners from both Marla and Kelly-Anne is inspiring.
I didn't love the ending but I didn't hate it either. I perhaps wanted slightly more from the ending but sometimes perhaps authors need to not end things too neatly to make things too easy on us readers. Life isn't easy, particularly not for our heroines, and this story reflects that, but hope, love and strength live on.
The audio performance of this book, by Sophie Roberts, was excellent. My only minor quibble was her pronunciation of 'Donal', Marla's son. It sounded to me as though Sophie was saying Donald without the d, rather than Donal, accentuating the "o" as an Irish person would, so that was a tiny bit annoying and I'm not sure why it wasn't corrected.
This book explores so many difficult themes, including loss, identity, homelessness, domestic violence, dementia and elder neglect, and it does so beautifully. The stories and struggles of three very different women, Allison, Marla and Kelly-Anne, are intricately interwowen. The male characters in the book, such as Allison's cruel and violent father and Donal, Marla's seemingly heartless son, sabotage the happiness and wellbeing of our three heroines. Interstingly, the more minor female characters are flawed from the condescending carer, Peggy, to the entitled and ungrateful teenager, Lucy. So while I felt incredible compassion towards Allison, Marla and Kelly-Anne the book was balanced by the more flawed minor female characters, than if it had been a 50 / 50 split of wonderful women being stymied by hateful men.
Marla brings incredible humour, while Allison's intelligence and empathy in caring for Marla conveys a wisdom far beyond her years. This book is both heartbreaking and uplifting. The strength that Allison garners from both Marla and Kelly-Anne is inspiring.
I didn't love the ending but I didn't hate it either. I perhaps wanted slightly more from the ending but sometimes perhaps authors need to not end things too neatly to make things too easy on us readers. Life isn't easy, particularly not for our heroines, and this story reflects that, but hope, love and strength live on.
The audio performance of this book, by Sophie Roberts, was excellent. My only minor quibble was her pronunciation of 'Donal', Marla's son. It sounded to me as though Sophie was saying Donald without the d, rather than Donal, accentuating the "o" as an Irish person would, so that was a tiny bit annoying and I'm not sure why it wasn't corrected.