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read in October, 2007, has a copy to sell/swap
Chloe said:
"One of the things I was not keen on was the fact that the book is set in the 1950's, I am not normally a fan of books set in the past so this made me feel a bit apprehensive. It follows the life of Lewis Alridge in several parts, which is what made t...more
One of the things I was not keen on was the fact that the book is set in the 1950's, I am not normally a fan of books set in the past so this made me feel a bit apprehensive. It follows the life of Lewis Alridge in several parts, which is what made the novel so enjoyable to me. We find out all the things about Lewis that you would want to know, find out why he is like he is, and also find out a bit about the neighbours who live near him.
We join the book to find out that Lewis has been in prison, although we are not told why that is. In fact, we don't find out why until around halfway through the book, another fact which also keeps you reading. We meet the characters of Alice, Lewis' stepmother, and Gilbert, his father. Clearly all is not well in the Aldridge household, and we find out why as the book progresses. After this short prologue, we are taken to Part 1, which tells us the story of a 10 year old Lewis, and the tragedy which he has to overcome at such a young age. Also, Lewis has to deal with his father returning from war, and the change of dynamics at home between him, his mother and his father.
Part 2 is a teenage Lewis, when he is around 14 years old onwards, and Lewis is clearly a troubled teen, struggling with his father and his new step-mother. He is causing trouble and his family and friends are unsure of how to deal with it. In this part we find out why Lewis is in prison, and how he has to deal with what he has done and the exclusion of his family and friends because of his deed.
Part 3 goes back to the eldest Lewis, the one we met at the start of the book who has just been released from Prison. It moved slowly through Lewis' latter years, developing the unsure relationship between Gilbert and Lewis well, and a shocking twist involving Alice and Lewis, something you do not expect at all. This part was quite shocking, and came to an appropriate end which felt right for the book.
Although I found the characters were well-written I do not feel that the author went into enough depth with them, especially some of the less major characters, although ones which are still important to the storyline.
Some of the other characters were well written too, and I enjoyed very much the characters of Kit and Tamsin, the Carmichael sisters who lived down the road from the Aldridges. They are polar opposites yet both keep terrible secrets about their father, and it is this secret which unites the sisters. Also, there is an intriguing character called Jeanie who appears in the London scene who clearly plays a big part in Lewis' life and I wish we had gotten to know a bit more about her.
Some of the themes in the book were a bit shocking to me, and were quite graphic. There were some scenes of self-harms which were quite disturbing to read, although I do feel that the author got into the mindset of a person who could do that to themselves quite well, and although the scenes were shocking to read, they were intriguing and I felt they weren't out of place in the book. Also, some violent scenes were a little hard to read, and actually made me physically recoil from the book, but I do suppose beatings were more common in families 50 years ago that they are these days, although this didn't make it any easier to read.
So, what is my overall opinion? Characters sometimes felt a bit weak, although not so much so that it ruined the novel and the leading character was well written throughout. The story is great, and has a good natural progression about it which makes it incredibly readable. I enjoyed the fact that the the book was split into periods of Lewis' life, and this enabled you to distinguish between the times in his life, and made it easy to follow. I also enjoyed how the author told the story mainly through Lewis but occasionally through Kit, and this added a different perspective and change of pace....less
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