You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2017.
And I nearly missed it! Though to be fair I never remember to write the date down and the reminder from the nice people at Wordpress wanders from 20th to 22nd January and back again. But hey, never mind that, this here little blog is 10, can you believe it.
I was 10 in 1972.
The Rock and Idris Elba were born. One of my heroes, Margaret Rutherford died. It was a leap year. Watership Down was published. David Cassidy, T-Rex and (swoon) Donny Osmond all had number one hits in the the UK.
It was a rubbish year for my family as a relative was killed serving in Northern Ireland but you know I was 10 so there was lots of other stuff going on too. I was still in primary school. I was a demon street roller-skater (4 wheels and a key, none of your modern nonsense).
I wonder what my 10 year old blog will be dealing with in 2017? Shudder to think.
Anyway, as is traditional, please help yourself to some of the virtual cake & champagne, and thanks as always, for reading 😀
What’s it all about?
From the blurb:
Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. It’s not the kind of place you’d want to end up. But it’s where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life. It’s a place where even the walls whisper. And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess. Will she listen?
Why did I want to read it?
I really enjoyed the author’s previous novel The Girl With All The Gifts (my review is here if you’re interested) and as that had a real impact on my I was intrigued to see what he was going o do next. And in many ways it couldn’t have been more different – a psychological thriller set in a women’s prison.
What did I think of it?
I took a little bit of time to get into this novel, but once it got moving I was totally gripped. Jess is a fascinating character, a woman who has been convicted of causing the death of a young boy and who resolves to punish herself by starving herself to death but is spoken to by the voice of a young boy which gives her a purpose to live.
But what a life – a prison where violence and drugs and corruption are rife and Jess resolves to keep her head down. You can imagine how that might work out, especially when she decides to go ahead with .
There are supernatural elements obviously but this is as much about guilt and redemption; I found the characters believable and the story gripping and moving. Very much worth reading.
Bride of the Book God 