A child is imprisoned in a house by her reclusive religious parents. Hester has never seen the outside world; her companions are Cat, Spoon, Door, ...
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Jan 16, 2010
Sharon
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Oct 07, 2009
Marissa
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Aug 04, 2009
Hannah
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One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna
After penning several children’s and YA stories, One Foot Wrong is Sofie Laguna’s first adult novel. And yet, like a curious playmate out of juvenile literature, Laguna’s crisp language, full of bright and shiny imagery, beckons the reader inward and holds our hand through the most terrifying moments.
The only child of reclusive parents, Hester Wakefield explores the boundaries of her nightmarish childhood. Isolated, she constructs a coded spe More...
After penning several children’s and YA stories, One Foot Wrong is Sofie Laguna’s first adult novel. And yet, like a curious playmate out of juvenile literature, Laguna’s crisp language, full of bright and shiny imagery, beckons the reader inward and holds our hand through the most terrifying moments.
The only child of reclusive parents, Hester Wakefield explores the boundaries of her nightmarish childhood. Isolated, she constructs a coded spe More...
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Jun 16, 2009
Nancy
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Hester was born past her mother's prime child-bearing years, and her mother repeatedly lets her know that she is a curse to her. Exactly what, or even whether anything is truly wrong with Hester is unclear. Her upbringing is at least in part the source of her limitations. The story is narrated by Hester, and the language, and view is both simplistic, yet magical. She interprets everything through what she understands of the bible stories she has been told.
Her parents, who she refers More...
Her parents, who she refers More...
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May 22, 2009
Renae
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A Child’s Drawing: One Foot Wrong
Laguna, S. (2008). One Foot Wrong. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Being plunged head first into the abstract brain of a young child is a surprisingly exhilarating experience, perfectly captured in Sofie Laguna’s novel One Foot Wrong. This gripping, fictitious tale presents the colourful world of Hester: a young girl trapped in the ridiculous rules of her reclusive religious parents. Readers are invited into Hester’s bizarre world whe More...
Laguna, S. (2008). One Foot Wrong. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Being plunged head first into the abstract brain of a young child is a surprisingly exhilarating experience, perfectly captured in Sofie Laguna’s novel One Foot Wrong. This gripping, fictitious tale presents the colourful world of Hester: a young girl trapped in the ridiculous rules of her reclusive religious parents. Readers are invited into Hester’s bizarre world whe More...
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Aug 03, 2011
ally
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Hester lives in the house and isn't allowed outside. She lives with Sack and Boot and often eats her food under the table with Cat and goes to the hanging room if she is bad. God the bird watches over her and Jesus is drumming the beat inside her head. Then one day she has to go to school and learns that everybody is different from her and that a secret has no sound and lives in your darkest corner where it sits and waits.
I cannot praise this book enough, it is simply incredibl More...
I cannot praise this book enough, it is simply incredibl More...
Sep 24, 2011
Bianca
rated it:
This book is very well written and highly disturbing!! Hester lives a very hard life with her parents who abuse her physically, emotionally and sexually. Her mother does not allow her to leave the house and both parents force her work in the house and torture her as punishment if she misbehaves. Hester is a child, whether simply in age or mental capacity is never determined, but it is the voice of a child that narrates this book and tries to describe and understand her existence but does not hav
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Sep 12, 2009
One Foot Wrong is a powerful and extremely disturbing novel. It starts off gently, dropping the reader into the lyrical, almost charming narrative of Hester Wakefield. It’s a child’s world, where cats and birds are friends, and inanimate objects such as a spoon, a chair and a broom, communicate warmly. Parents on the other hand, are objectified and kept at a distance wherever possible. The lyricism of Hester’s astonishingly beautiful and myopic voice is constant, even when the plot becomes terri
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Jul 23, 2011
Anne
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Sofie Laguna is an Australian novelist, this is her first adult fiction book. It's incredibly difficult to relay the emotions that this story evoked for me. The style, the language and the story is unlike anything I've come across before. The nearest comparison, for those that want one, would be Emma Donoghue's 'Room' - if only for the child narrator and the sparse language.
The story starts with Hester as a small girl - an unwanted small girl who is kept in isolation by her fanatical, r More...
The story starts with Hester as a small girl - an unwanted small girl who is kept in isolation by her fanatical, r More...
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Oct 23, 2010
Brisbride13
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i really liked it this book, but it was missing so much information that i lacked "something" that would have really made this book shine. the book starts out where it seems like she is really young still, but not too much later she starts her first period and is eventually put into a mental institution so this leads me to believe she is older than i first thought. there isnt much "background" on how she becomes so ill emotionally even though what i did read it's understandab
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Aug 22, 2010
Dani
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Disturbing view into the mind of an abused young woman as she lives inside her own world of madness. She has to make sense of her twisted world and we are taken along with her through the labyrinth of her own style of logic. We are shown the cruelty of those who use and abuse her. We see the tenderness of those who care. Much of the time we hear the chorus of her "friends", tree, spoon, axe and others who speak to her when no one else will. Dark and intriquing, a book you want to put d
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Apr 06, 2009
Cam
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Whilst this story is of the horrendous abuse that Hester suffered at the hand of her religious zealous reclusive parents. I found it to be a story of a champion that never painted herself a victim. She creates for herself literally the tools of her own survival, spoon, pencil, axe & tree. With their friendship, she provided for herself the love support & companionship she was never allowed or given otherwise. They acted as her own nurture network, they gave her affection, praise, and encourageme
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Jan 06, 2011
Debra
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A child is imprisoned in a house by her reclusive religious parents. Hester has never
seen the outside world; her companions are Cat, Spoon, Door, Handle, Broom, and they
all speak to her. Her imagination is informed by one book, an illustrated child's bible, and
its imagery forms the sole basis for her capacity to make poetic connection.
One day Hester takes a brave Alice in Wonderland trip into the forbidden outside (at the
behest of Handle - More...
May 10, 2010
Victoria
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This was a dark and strange book. In the midst of the horror of Hester's life, her narration was at times oddly, incongruously, beautiful. The limitations of the narrator left some rather important gaps in the story, but in the end, there was surprisingly satisfying closure. It was certainly a unique book and one that almost begs for discussion. It seems odd to say, but the book was almost sweetly disturbing.
Sep 10, 2011
Lydia
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I was recommended this book from a friend. It was Poetic. Horrible. Beautiful. Sofie Laguna took a disgusting childhood abuse story and turned it into a terrific storm of words that twisted like tornadoes through my mind. I loved every second. It was a page turner to the end. It was like reading a song. The words would sing through my head.
Aug 07, 2009
Paul
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The unloved child-narrator's narrow and disturbed world-view and singular voice cast a spell, a dark dream from which it is difficult to wake. Hester's imaginative powers -- informed by the brutish religiosity of her parents -- imprison, then liberate her. This short, harrowing novel can and should be read in one sitting.
Mar 23, 2009
Alexandra (AlexEatsBooks)
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Hauntingly beautiful and painfully truthful. One Foot Wrong is told through the eyes of young Hester, Mentally handicapped and living in a sheltered and often cruel household where her only friends are the door handle, table, broom and Cat. This is one voice that needs to be heard and you will remember it.
Oct 12, 2009
Rachel
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This story is told from the point of view of Hester, a young girl who is neglected and abused by her fanatically religious parents. Once she gets big enough, strong enough, and bold enough to defend herself, her parents send her to an asylum.
Aug 06, 2011
Jen
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A truely scary novel. I just had to keep reading this, but with a real sense of dread. Hester is the only daughter of two elderly parents whom she calls Boot, her father, and Sack, her mother. She is not allowed to go outside, or to go to school, and is harshly punished if she transgresses the many rules of her religious mother.
Jan 09, 2010
Sharon
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I thought it was going to be another heartbreaking book about a neglected & abused child & the way she sees the world. It turned into something totally different. a very disturbing ending.
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Jun 26, 2011
Kirstyn
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Wow. It was really confusing because of the point of view it was told from, but at the same time really cool. It wasn't good enough to earn 5 stars, but when I read the last bit, I was like, "woah!" and quite disturbed. Good.
Jun 22, 2010
Sarah
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A painful heart-wrenching book about a little girl, trapped in a world of abuse and her own imagination. Bleak but powerful, with a tiny sliver of redemption.
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Aug 05, 2011
Oh dear. What a journey. Distressing. Beautiful. Heart wrenching. Amazing.
Good luck with the Miles Franklin Sophie.
Good luck with the Miles Franklin Sophie.
Jun 28, 2010
Rachel
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Wow, this book is unlike any other book I've read so far. Being in Hester's head is quite unusual, as she hasn't learned any of the outside world as we know it.
Mar 28, 2010
Miriam
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Told from the perspective of an abused girl with down syndrome. Unfortunately, it didn't say anything that many other books have said.
Jan 17, 2010
Cynthia
rated it:
Overall a very intriguing tale, but some elements were deeply disturbing. The writing could be confusing at times.
May 07, 2010
Anne
rated it:
Two stars given only because it's not to my taste - if you like this sort of book, it'd be worth 3 or 4.
Very disturbing. It was well-written, but sometimes a little hard to follow because of how unusual the main character's voice was. I would definitely read more of the author's work, but I wouldn't read this one again.
I liked the ambiguity of the main character, and it was good to find a book that wasn't utterly predictable. It would have been so easy for this book to More...
Very disturbing. It was well-written, but sometimes a little hard to follow because of how unusual the main character's voice was. I would definitely read more of the author's work, but I wouldn't read this one again.
I liked the ambiguity of the main character, and it was good to find a book that wasn't utterly predictable. It would have been so easy for this book to More...
Sep 18, 2009
Dawn
rated it:
Couldn't put this one down. Read it to the neglect to all others, including sleep, in less then one day.
Mar 16, 2009
Bria
rated it:
This isn't badly written and has some interesting ideas, it was just far too dark and disturbing so I can't really say that I enjoyed it. Perhaps I just read it at the wrong time. Certainly don't read this if you aren't feeling positive about the world!
Jun 23, 2010
Heidi
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Wow, this book was serious! This poor child, she obviously had issues bigger than just abuse.
