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ruth_neese 's review for:
O Caledonia
by Elspeth Barker
This book begins and ends with a murder. In between, it is a coming-of-age tale about a girl growing up in post-WWII northern Scotland. The landscape is bleak and windswept and Janet is a misfit, a deeply introverted child marooned in a family of extroverts who decide not to understand her. She is in love with books and languages, not humans. Her home, a genteelly rotting estate called Auchnasaugh, is the only other love in her life.
The book tells the story of Janet's life in her voice from the ages of 3 to 16. Each chapter is like a separate play, with it's own plot line that may, or may not, be connected to a previous chapter. The author uses delicious language to complement Janet's love of words. There are the usual coming-of-age tropes--detested younger siblings, indifferent or inept adults, loss of prized role models, horror over the development of secondary sexual characteristics, and the UK tradition of boarding school with its accompanying distress. The writing makes these tropes less hackneyed, and the story flies along to the disturbing conclusion. My one minor complaint is, does EVERY book or story about a young girl growing up require one or more incidents of attempted (or successful) sexual assault? While this trope is "rooted in reality," more examples of girls maintaining their personal power and control over their bodies would be appreciated.
The book tells the story of Janet's life in her voice from the ages of 3 to 16. Each chapter is like a separate play, with it's own plot line that may, or may not, be connected to a previous chapter. The author uses delicious language to complement Janet's love of words. There are the usual coming-of-age tropes--detested younger siblings, indifferent or inept adults, loss of prized role models, horror over the development of secondary sexual characteristics, and the UK tradition of boarding school with its accompanying distress. The writing makes these tropes less hackneyed, and the story flies along to the disturbing conclusion. My one minor complaint is, does EVERY book or story about a young girl growing up require one or more incidents of attempted (or successful) sexual assault? While this trope is "rooted in reality," more examples of girls maintaining their personal power and control over their bodies would be appreciated.