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Children crossing
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1979
About the author
Verity Bargate
5 books18 followersVerity Eileen Bargate (1940–1981) was an English novelist and theatre director. In 1969, she co-founded the cutting-edge Soho Theatre Company, later known as the Soho Theatre. She also wrote three novels, including Tit for Tat.
Her first husband was Soho Theatre co-founder Fred Proud. Her second husband, till her death, was the playwright and screenwriter Barrie Keeffe. She died of cancer at the age of 41.
After her death, the Verity Bargate Award was set up in her memory to encourage and reward new writing in the theatre.
Her first husband was Soho Theatre co-founder Fred Proud. Her second husband, till her death, was the playwright and screenwriter Barrie Keeffe. She died of cancer at the age of 41.
After her death, the Verity Bargate Award was set up in her memory to encourage and reward new writing in the theatre.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2024
There's a website dedicated to 'neglected' books and this was among them so I thought I'd take a look. As you can imagine, I couldn't find a new copy, only a brown and stained second-hand version that I managed to buy. Even Goodreads does't seem to know this paperback exists, the only cover they have available being the hardback. And so I read it not expecting much. And it was fantastic.
The book is hard to describe without spoilers, that being said the biggest (and most significant) event of the book occurs quite early on so I'm not sure it's a spoiler so much as something that might colour your expectations of the reading experience going in. I already had an inkling of what was to come. The book begins with Rosie and her two children, Abigail (four) and Daisy (three), on a train to Cornwall where she intends to stay with her married friends, Tom and Jane. She is going there after discovering that her husband (Joe) has been having an affair with a woman called Helen. They spend their days at the beach, have meals together, have drinks, etc. Then, when driving back home, Tom slams on his breaks for a passing fox and a lorry crashes into the back of the car instantly killing Abigail and Daisy.
What follows is the story of Rosie dealing with this. She is understandably lost and begins to be looked after by John, the local doctor, who eventually takes her back to London and begins to become slightly obsessed with her. She is splitting into different people, wanting to find ways to feel alive, trying to understand what life will look like now. She can never exist in the same way again.
The book was genuinely gripping. I read through it very quickly and couldn't stop turning the pages. The writing is straight-forward but Bargate knows how to be concise, to the point, and waste no time on anything that isn't necessary. There is no fat, only meat. The book is a flash of trauma and shock, and even when the pace slows, the book maintains its sharpness, each chapter, short and slick, moving you to the next moment. I was completely sucked in. The story is dealing with a bleak scenario but it does so with rapid energy and brevity. Rosie becomes a shell of a human, eternally damned to walk the streets as a mother without children.
Short and (bitter)sweet.
The book is hard to describe without spoilers, that being said the biggest (and most significant) event of the book occurs quite early on so I'm not sure it's a spoiler so much as something that might colour your expectations of the reading experience going in. I already had an inkling of what was to come. The book begins with Rosie and her two children, Abigail (four) and Daisy (three), on a train to Cornwall where she intends to stay with her married friends, Tom and Jane. She is going there after discovering that her husband (Joe) has been having an affair with a woman called Helen. They spend their days at the beach, have meals together, have drinks, etc. Then, when driving back home, Tom slams on his breaks for a passing fox and a lorry crashes into the back of the car instantly killing Abigail and Daisy.
What follows is the story of Rosie dealing with this. She is understandably lost and begins to be looked after by John, the local doctor, who eventually takes her back to London and begins to become slightly obsessed with her. She is splitting into different people, wanting to find ways to feel alive, trying to understand what life will look like now. She can never exist in the same way again.
The book was genuinely gripping. I read through it very quickly and couldn't stop turning the pages. The writing is straight-forward but Bargate knows how to be concise, to the point, and waste no time on anything that isn't necessary. There is no fat, only meat. The book is a flash of trauma and shock, and even when the pace slows, the book maintains its sharpness, each chapter, short and slick, moving you to the next moment. I was completely sucked in. The story is dealing with a bleak scenario but it does so with rapid energy and brevity. Rosie becomes a shell of a human, eternally damned to walk the streets as a mother without children.
Short and (bitter)sweet.
July 2, 2023
Quina impotència, quina tristesa i quina grima.
February 11, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up. That plot turn around chapter 12, though... Ughh.
August 2, 2014
A very well written and disturbing book in its portrayal of a complete breakdown. Well worth reading
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews