Smash All the Windows

by Jane Davis

It has taken conviction to right the wrongs. It will take courage to learn how to live again.

‘An all-round triumph.’ John Hudspith

For the families of the victims of the St Botolph and Old Billingsgate disaster, the undoing of a miscarriage of justice should be a cause for rejoicing. For more than thirteen years, the search for truth has eaten up everything. Marriages, families, health, careers and finances.

Finally, the coroner has ruled that the crowd did not contribute to their own deaths. Finally, now that lies have been unravelled and hypocrisies exposed, they can all get back to their lives.

If only it were that simple.

Tapping into the issues of the day, Davis delivers a highly charged work of metafiction, a compelling testament to the human condition and the healing power of art. Written with immediacy, style and an overwhelming sense of empathy, Smash all the Windows will be enjoyed by readers of How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall and How to be Both by Ali Smith.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery, Literature, Literary Fiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2018

About the author

Hailed by The Bookseller as 'One to Watch', Jane Davis writes thought-provoking page-turners, exploring a diverse range of subjects, from pioneering female photographers to relatives seeking justice for the victims of a fictional disaster. Interested in how people behave under pressure, Jane introduces her characters when they're in highly volatile situations and then, in her words, throws them to the lions. Expect complex relationships, meaty moral dilemmas and a scattering of dark family secrets!

Her first novel, 'Half-Truths and White Lies', won a national award established by Transworld with the aim of finding the next Joanne Harris. Further recognition followed in 2016 with 'An Unknown Woman' being named Writing Magazine's Self-Published Book of the Year as well as being shortlisted in the IAN Awards. In 2019 'Smash all the Windows', won the inaugural Selfies Book Award. Her novel, 'At the Stroke of Nine O'Clock' was featured by The Lady Magazine as one of their favourite books set in the 1950s and was a Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice.

Jane lives in Surrey, in what was originally the ticket office for a Victorian pleasure garden, known locally as 'the gingerbread house'. Her house frequently crops up in her fiction. In fact, she burnt it to the ground in the opening chapter of 'An Unknown Woman'. Her latest release, 'Small Eden', is a fictionalized account of why one man chose to open a small-scale pleasure garden at a time when London's great pleasure gardens were facing bankruptcy.

When she isn't writing, you may spot Jane disappearing up the side of a mountain with a camera in hand.

Find out more about Jane at:
Website:jane-davis.co.uk
Get a FREEcopy of her time-slip, photography-themed eBook, I Stopped Time, when you signup to her mailing list at jane-davis.co.uk/newsletter

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was thirteen years after one of the worst disasters in Britain’s history when more than fifty people were killed during a London rush hour when escalators collapsed in the Underground, leading to the crushing of multiple people. Now, with court cases behind them as they searched for the truth, where the families of the victims had lost much, the coroner ruled that the crowd hadn’t been at fault and didn’t cause their own deaths. But can those families finally get back to their lives again?

Moving through current day, the past, and the long journey they’d travelled, three particular families dictated their grief, horror, loss of marriage and family closeness, and how tragedy altered their lives completely. Emotional, heart rending and traumatic, Smash all the Windows by Jane Davis is an unusual and compelling read which I recommend.

[Liza Perrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved all of Jane Davis’s novels, and her latest, Smash all the Windows, was no exception. This story starts twenty years after a terrible disaster, which I could easily visualise occurring in our times. It explores it effects on different people, and helps us to imagine how we might be equipped, or not, to cope with, and survive, such tragedy.


As usual, the author tells the story from the viewpoint of several excellently portrayed characters, her remarkable observational skills making us identify and sympathise with each character.

I enjoyed every character, admiring some more than others. Some simply struggle to get through each day as best they can. Others constantly search and dig, others lose their childhood during the years of grief. Jules was probably my favourite though, a poignant character; an artist able to pick apart the wreckage and rubble, and create something incredibly beautiful and defined. An exhibition entirely fitting for the Tate Modern art gallery in London.

Weaving between the past and the present, Smash all the Windows manages, somehow, to be both heartbreaking and hopeful. It does not give the reader resolution, but it does offer acceptance and the ability to attain a certain type of harmony with the tragedy.

[Trevor Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Davis’ latest work is a gripping exploration into the inner lives of those closest to the victims of a tragic accident that killed over fifty people in London’s rush hour. This is fiction but readers will be reminded of the all too frequent events – disasters and terrorist attacks – resulting multiple deaths in London and beyond.
Each one of the victims in this story comes from his or her own separate family – a diverse spread of backgrounds, ages and cultures – yet their sudden tragic ends, and the struggle for recognition and justice, brings these families together, culminating in a joint cathartic event that brings healing like nothing else could. The victims move from the mere name and number given by the authorities to human beings with their own special story and a lasting impact on their world.
This book is brilliantly written, alternating between the past, the present and the decade-long journey between them. It is a cross-genre novel that ought to be read by everyone irrespective of age, culture, gender or learning because it is inclusive of people from all these backgrounds. If I were a teacher of English I would certainly recommend it to my students. It will not leave you, the reader, the same as you were before you read it.

[Davida Chazan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a deathly tragedy happens, we often think only of those who died. But they aren’t the only victims. In Jane Davis’ newest novel “Smash all the Windows” she investigates the way the ripples of such an event increase the circle of victims. See what I thought of this book in my review, here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/04/1...

[Dawn Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Jane Davis’ novels. So when I saw this was due out, I pre-ordered and received my hard copy ahead of formal publication date. I love this book so much I ordered a further 3 copies for birthday gifts. As usual with a Jane Davis novel, this tells a story, and does so from a number of viewpoints. The story in Smash All The Windows is the journey of various people affected – directly and indirectly - by a disaster; the kind of disaster most of us can barely imagine being touched by.
At times this made me laugh, but mostly it made me think; it felt particularly relevant given the recent spate of UK events that occurred or were reported over on the past few years - I’ve been very fortunate and never been personally impacted by loss of anyone close, so when something such as Grenfell happens, I can only imagine.

Smash All The Windows did an exceptional job of helping me do this. It manages to be heartfelt, heartbreaking (there were tears) as well as incredibly uplifting. I really don’t have the words to say how affecting and relevant and human this novel is. It’s a brilliantly observed and beautifully written tale of the journey from tragedy to, no not resolution or closure; but peace and acceptance.

Every character is clearly, convincingly, sympathetically portrayed. The tragedy is a constant backdrop, but despite it being what has come to define each of the characters, it doesn’t (I have no idea how this was possible to achieve) dominate over the personalities. Some of them I liked more than others, some I admired and most I loved. Eric (with the support of the indomitable Sorrel) digging, researching and some more digging to develop the ‘sequence’ that results in the final inquest. Donovan getting through each day as best he can, knowing that he is marked by all who know him. Gina barely coping as Tamsin supports her, losing her childhood in the process. Maggie whose starling is on the cover and Jules, an artist who creates beauty and meaning from detritus. The concept of the final exhibition is proper genius, worthy of the Tate Modern.

I cannot recommend Smash All The Windows highly enough.

[Kara Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“‘Detritus- it is from the French, you know? It is about life wearing you down, expecting something when you have nothing to give. And it is about trying to build a life out of the things you are left with’”

Smash All the Windows follows three families thirteen years after they lost family members in a horrific accident in a London Underground station.
The beginning of the book sees them leaving the second inquest of the accident, finally feeling like they can start to move forward with their lives. The author goes back and forth in time from the minutes leading up to the accident to the time months and years later.

I enjoyed this story, but found some of the characters were not as easy to get to know, therefore making the story seem flat at times.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another compelling read from Jane Davis.

[Julie Cordiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional and compelling, Smash All The Windows provides insight into how tragedy changes people. The characters are carefully portrayed so as to bring out their flaws as well as their suffering. It must have been emotionally exhausting for Jane to write it, but it’s very well done.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars, definitely, for the writing. But I didn’t like this as much as the last book of Jane’s I read. Once I’d gotten past the stupendously good beginning, the direction the story took kind of irked me.

It’s a very subjective thing, of course, wanting a story to focus on other things than what the author actually chose, and I’m not sure if I could tell you WHAT I wanted. But I never quite got the point of Eric’s story, couldn’t connect with Maggie’s despite being able to see my own daughter in Rosie’s place, and above all I didn’t like the focus on Jules.

I can see the theme—art helping with grief, etc. But I was uncomfortable with the whole idea of an art installation based on a tragedy, and especially the Victim 34 thing which felt uneasily like exploitation of someone whose family inevitably had no input into the process. It’s possible that unease came because not much was said about Victim 34 earlier on, and we learned that this was probably an illegal immigrant much later (unless I missed something).

In a way I felt this novel started on a high point but the search for a happy outcome, a way of using the grief, took over and watered down the powerful impact of the early pages. I will never go down a steep Underground escalator again without thinking of Cassie! I swear I took the lifts at St. Pancras (I read this novel while travelling) because of Davis, instead of my usual cavalier assumption that I’m just fine on an escalator with a large suitcase and two shoulder bags.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been meaning to read this book for a long, long time. But you know how it is, it sinks into the abyss of your kindle and a myriad of other bright, sparkly things takes its place. However, refocusing, I chose it as my local book club read which set me a deadline.

I have, sadly only too often, watched families on the news seeking justice following a disaster and been in awe at the strength that keeps them going in such circumstances. In Smash all the Windows we get to see just what devastation such a disaster can bring to families, particularly when the justice system lets them down.

Then up steps first-year law student, Eric, an unlikely hero, but one who has studied the case and believes he has the answers the families crave.

There have been so many fabulous words written about this book that I can’t write anything new. Suffice to say it is an excellently written page-turner that sensitively covers lives you hope will never be yours and events you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Highly recommended.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I couldn't put this book down. The author has written some characters so real that you think you know them in real life. This is a book about an event that changes so many people's lives. It takes you on their journeys to have the truth put on record. The attention to detail brings everything jumping to life straight out the book and makes you read on and on.

[Jane Davis]

Smash all the Windows was the winner of the inaugural Selfies Award, 2019.

‘Just fricking perfect. An all-round triumph.’ John Hudspith

‘This is an astounding read. I was completely captivated.’ Liz Carr

‘A portrait of grief and loss with immense emotional depth.’ Being Anne

‘This fictional disaster echoes with real emotions. I read it twice and believed every word.’ J J Marsh

‘Jane Davis has quickly become one of my favourite authors and this book confirms exactly why!’ Bronwyn Kotze

JJ: Was it a sense of injustice which provoked you to tell this tale of loss and survival?

JD: Absolutely. My starting point was watching footage from the second Hillsborough inquest, my horror at the almost celebratory atmosphere forced on the families as they left the court, and the banality of the reporters who suggested that they could finally ‘get back to their lives’. My reaction was, ‘What lives?’ And ‘How do you suggest they do that?’
Link to BBC article on Hillsborough http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19545126

JJ: One of the most touching elements was the insight into the bereaved families and how an absence becomes a dominant presence. And that is also a feature of I Stopped Time. The deceased as larger than the living.

JD: Yes, it took me some time to identify that the common thread that runs through my novels is the impact of missing persons on our lives, how the hole they leave behind can be so great that it dwarfs the people we’re left with. In I Stopped Time, it was an estranged mother. I addressed the theme head-on in A Funeral for an Owl, with teenage runaways. In Smash all the Window, given that we have fifty-nine victims, the presence of the theme is all the more obvious. It almost certainly comes from both my personal history – and that of my parents.
When I was aged seventeen, a school friend of mine was murdered. This was my first experience of a young person dying, and the ripples from that single death are still felt today. In my parents’ generation, death was far more common but was seldom spoken about, and I found that it was taboo to speak about it in my own home.

My father’s mother died when he was just eighteen months old in 1937. He and his two sisters were taken into care. As was the norm, boys were separated from girls and so he had little contact with Marian (aged 6) and Lois (aged 4). Six months later, Marian woke to find Lois dead in the bed beside her. Lois’s death certificate says that she died of a broken heart. My grandfather was conscripted in 1939, so Dad would have had no regular contact with him. I don’t really know how aware he was of this as a two-year-old, but I know that a sense of loss and abandonment runs through his veins.
My mother was the first child of her father’s second marriage. His first wife had died at the age of 37 (again, 1937). Mum grew up knowing her two half-brothers and a half-sister. We only came into possession of a family tree last month, which shows that she had another half-brother she knew nothing about. Patrick died in 1938, just six months after his mother.

My mother also had a much loved younger sister called Alma. She and my mother were to have had a joint wedding but shortly before the wedding date, Alma was killed in a car crash. She was only 23.

If these stories are there in my family, similar absences must be there for every family. And when young person dies, the potential for future life and the continuation of blood lines dies with them. That’s something I’ve tried to show in the book through my character Donovan, who not only lost his only daughter in the disaster, but his unborn grandson. The fact that he becomes the last of his family is another source of grief.

JJ: You get into quite a few different heads – how did you write that? One character at a time, or switch when one perspective became too intense?
JD: I don’t think it would have been possible to write this particular book one character at a time, since, with the possible exception of Eric (the law student who works away in the background, mapping out the sequence of events that led to the tragedy) I needed all of my characters interact with other from the outset. I switched characters as I thought the story demanded. In the final version, the chapters don’t appear in the order as they do in the original draft. It’s interesting that you say that I switch when the moment becomes intense, because some additional chapter breaks and cliff-hangers have been inserted, I confess. But as writers I don’t think we can shy away from difficult subject-matter.

JJ: Having read much of your work, you don’t seem political in the soapbox sense, but more at the social level: how systems and decisions affect people’s lives.
JD: That’s a very fair observation, although I think it’s almost impossible to separate the political from human stories. Thinking about Eric’s forensic accident investigation, if you peel away the layers, there are usually reasons who people are the way they are and do what they do, and some of those reasons will almost certainly be social and economic.
What interests me is how people behave when they are put under extreme pressure. I’m also interested in cause and effect. I always say that I’m 80% logic and 20% creativity, but I can craft a book out of a single question if I follow the argument through to its natural conclusion.
In Smash all the Windows, I replicated various elements that led to Hillsborough, Aberfan and other large-scale disasters so that readers confront the same uncomfortable questions. Who are the victims? Should individuals been held accountable, or does this prevent the identification of the factors that create circumstances that allowed accidents to happen? How should families and friends of victims be treated when they’re searching for or identifying loved ones? Should those same friends and family members be allowed to participate fully in inquests? Should the bereaved be protected from the media? Why does it take so long for justice to be delivered?

JJ: As an ex-Londoner who fell backwards down an escalator, the detail and accuracy scared me enough to consider the bus next time I’m in town. Do you still take the Tube?
I do, although my working patterns generally allow me to travel outside rush hour. If there’s an option to avoid escalators, I’ll take it. That said, I recently took the option of the Underground because I was walking and there were crush conditions on the pavement. If you’re predisposed towards anxiety, as I am, none of the available options are simple. I find walking the Riverside Path preferable to any route through the city.

JJ: People often ask writers ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ I sense your ideas come from a personal provocation. So what provokes you?
JD: Injustice, unfairness - While researching my subject for My Counterfeit Self, a poet who is also a political activist, I had already decided that her cause should be CND, but stumbled across a story about how the British Government had failed to compensate its British Nuclear Veterans.
An equivalent happened with Smash all the Windows. It was the 50-year anniversary of Aberfan, an incident I’d only had a vague awareness of, because it happened the year I was born. After a sustained period of heavy rain, one of the village’s slap heaps collapsed on Pantglas Junior School. The truly horrific thing about Aberfan was that it was totally foreseeable. As early as 1963 a waterworks engineer had written to the Coal Board. Two mothers had passed a petition to the school’s headmistress, and the council had had sight of it. The School governors had written to the coal board because they feared a disaster. But every time complaints were made, the Coal Board threatened to close the mines. On the morning of the disaster it was known that the coal mountain had sunk by 3 metres overnight, and still the 240 pupils went to school for what was to be the last day of half-term. Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up. And because Aberfan was such a small community, the loss of 144 lives, most of them children, meant that almost a whole generation was wiped out, and, with it, no doubt, future generations.
Link to article about 50 year anniversary of Aberfan http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04cb63l

JJ: There’s an artistic framing at the end of Smash all the Windows. Individual agony as public art. Is one way of processing grief to tell it as a story?
JD: My structural editor defines fiction as ‘single truths told in single voices’. My experience is that it far easier to tell your own truths, particularly if you hold an unpopular belief, in someone else’s voice. And if that’s the case with other truths, it may be the same with grief, but only for some. Several writer friends have told me that they have been so overwhelmed by grief that they have had to set aside novels that they were working on and were unable to write again for many years. Writing is simply one of many things that might be helpful.

JJ: Death and grieving is managed very differently from culture to culture. November the 1st in many countries is Day of the Dead, where people go to graveyards, light candles, have picnics and celebrate those who left us. Do you think the British reluctance to speak of the dead makes us slower to accept loss?

JD: British attitudes to mourning have changed significantly during my lifetime, starting with the outpouring of grief following Lady Diana’s death. It made me hugely uncomfortable at the time, and it made me hugely uncomfortable to see how the public thought they had a right to invade the privacy of a family, and two young boys in particular, who just happened to be royal.
I saw it more recently after the London terrorist attack. The bouquets of roses that spanned the width of London Bridge, the hand-written obituaries, but also the grief tourists who, l’m afraid, were there taking selfies of themselves with this as a backdrop.
Grief is a hugely personal experience, with no rules and no timescales. Just because we accept that someone has gone, doesn’t necessarily mean that we can move on.
My character Jules Roche, the sculptor, is French and, in contrast to the British characters, he can mention his wife as easily as if she had just stepped outside the room, but even though he’s found another way of expressing this grief – through his art – he is no nearer to accepting that she is gone and the manner of her death.

In the book, I try to show that death is no barrier to love. For me, the most poignant moments in the book are the ways in which the bereaved find ways to communicate with the dead, or when they sense that the dead are trying to reach out to them. There’s a moment when Donovan finds a pair of his daughter’s swimming goggles in the garage. They have lain there, undisturbed for over thirty years, but he finds them just after he makes the decision to allow Jules to have the pieces of wood from the unfinished crib he was making for his unborn grandson. (The idea is that Jules takes mementos from the families and uses them to create new works of art.) Donovan translates this as his daughter’s way of letting him know it’s OK.

I also like the moment that lent itself to the cover image: the starling. I borrowed a moment from one of my city walks. I was taking the stairs from the Riverside Path to London Bridge when I saw a starling sitting on a steel railing, singing its heart out. Hearing birdsong when surrounded by the traffic roar and the clang of building works is quite special and so I stood and watched. I used this moment for my character Maggie, who’s the mother of the young station supervisor who was in charge when the disaster happened. She feels her daughter is sending her a message.

[Margarita Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Davis' latest novel is a real tour de force. Writing about the aftermath of a fictional disaster at a London Underground station, she skilfully moves backwards and forwards in time to explore grief, loss and the process of coming to terms with what has happened. The writing is extremely rich and multi-layered. I liked the way the she used the present tense to convey a sense of urgency whilst interspersing memories from the past in the past tense. This gives a very rewarding reading experience. The characters are strongly drawn and convincing. By the end of the novel you feel as if you know them well and have shared in their emotional journey.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Davis is one of those authors whose books all have an entirely different feeling to each other, Smash All The Windows being another example of what ties them all together, the brilliant depiction of the characters, whatever their age, circumstance or time period.

The centre of this book is a tragedy of the type fortunately most of us will only ever read about or watch in horror on news reports. Fifteen years ago at a fictional tube station St Botolph and Old Billingsgate, a crush occurs. It starts on an escalator and fifty-eight people lost their lives. Their loved ones have gone through an inquest and a class action before the most recent, second inquest which rules that the victims weren’t at fault. The reader learns about some of the victims through their relatives who have never given up trying to ensure that a similar incident never occurs again.
My thoughts of the book instantly conjured up one I read in 2011, The Report by Jessica Frances Kane about the Bethnal Green disaster of 1943 where a crush on the entrance to the station resulted in a large loss of life of those seeking shelter from air raids. I’m sure you can pick your own reference, something the author herself addresses during the novel. What makes this book different is the wide range of fictional characters who are altered by the tragedy, from the parents, siblings and partners of those who lost their lives to the trainee lawyer who immerses himself in the points of law. All of these people are bought to life and while I won’t deny this book is terribly sad overall there is some hope, even if all that hope consists of is that those people manage to get some relief from the day that changed their lives.

The story is told from different viewpoints we see Gina a mother whose marriage has fallen apart, her daughter just a teenager at the time of the tragedy having lost her childhood as she tries to support her mother. The secrets that they keep from one another trying to help or avoiding difficult subjects, we see it all from both sides. Whatever anyone says, people don’t turn into saints because they’ve suffered and life can continue to be unfair. Another woman becomes a keyboard warrior having been unable to leave her house. Some of the families blamed those on duty, but what if they were victims too? How does that work. The past and the present run alongside each other, memories throwing us back in time to re-examine facts, and a special project creating a sense of community with those who never wanted to be members of this select group.

I saw Jane Davis’s work as a project, almost as mammoth as Eric’s research into the fictional tragedy and the art project that Jules undertakes. This is an ambitious piece of writing and I’m delighted to say one that works. Somehow whilst revolving around the tragedy this is a book to make you think, from the mundane to the more philosophical questions, yet all the while remembering that the readers want to connect to the book and its unique set of characters. I know I was urging them forward all the way.

An exceptional and engaging read.

[Catherine Gilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so real it seems that Jane must have experienced an incident like this to write in this way. It would have been so much easier to write a book about the shock horror of the actual incident, rather than explore the complexities of the impact on the people left behind in this beautiful, empathetic way - the characters are all so different and yet complimentary and seem to be a very true representation of the multi-layered way in which tragedy can affect us and the way in which we survive and deal with it - in the end we have no choice. Brilliant book, must read more by Jane Davis for sure. Thank you Peter Snell at Barton's Books Leatherhead!

[Jane Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I’ve read by this author, and I think it’s the best so far.
I love the way she gets into the heads of each character, we get to know their innermost thoughts, fears and desires.
The characters are always multidimensional and real people with flaws and fears and secrets.
A real page turner, I certainly will remember this one on my next trip on the underground.
Having had my share of bereavements it resonated with me, the characters struggles with moving on and reinventing themselves in order to get on with their lives. Learning to live with the status quo.
Looking forward to her next book.

[Hil Watling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book very bitty and confusing! The basic story line was good but there seemed to be too many characters and it jumped about too much for me!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, sometimes difficult, always moving, ‘Smash All The Windows’ by Jane Davis starts at a run as we are pitched straight into emotional turmoil, grief, anger and betrayal. There is an inquest investigating an accident thirteen years earlier, the undoing of a miscarriage of justice. In turn we meet the survivors, and the relatives of the victims. Davis follows the paths of each person to their own resolution; there is no self-help book to follow, they must each must work it out for themselves. We see flashbacks to the days and hours before the accident as Davis unravels the real truth of what happened.
This is a complex story with legal twists and turns, misunderstandings and minute step-by-step detail of what happened on that day, thirteen years ago, when over-crowding at St Botolph and Old Billingsgate tube stations in London ended in death. For thirteen years, blame has been thrown around, scapegoats have been targeted, the media has dug for dirt. This is an imaginary accident but with echoes of so many disasters – Hillsborough, Grenfell, Kings Cross – that it can’t help but be affecting.
There are a lot of victims and survivors, a lot of relatives. The high number of characters causes initial confusion: who is who, who is alive and who is dead, what was the actual accident. As I read the first quarter of the book, I longed for a short summary of what happened. But as the story progressed I understood that my confusion mirrors the confusion of an accident as it happens, the disorientation of victims, the powerlessness of the loved ones who are waiting. It is a purposeful obfuscation by the author to reflect the opacity of what happens, the difficulty of finding the truth in any inquest or public enquiry, and ultimately the slippery nature of memory.
The survivors and relatives of victims are now living fractured lives. Gina lost her son. Her daughter Tamsin has grown into a young woman, still living at home to support her mother after Gina’s husband left, as husband and wife dealt with grief in different ways. Gina often forgets in the bottom of a glass. Donovan lost his pregnant daughter, her partner and his unborn grandchild; grief has caused his wife to withdraw into her own world, agoraphobic she stays at home. Maggie lost her daughter, newly-promoted station supervisor Rosie; Rosie is the scapegoat and Maggie receives hate mail. She understands the need of people to blame someone, and tries to deal with the anger and bitterness thrown her way, but is unable to ‘move on’ as her husband can. Jules lost his wife and is raising his young son alone. None of these people were there on the day but they are also victims. Add to this mix the two lawyers, Eric and Sorrel. It is Eric’s cussedness, his determination to unravel the truth, to read obscure documents about operating procedures and identify the failings, that makes the new inquest possible. He proves that accidents happen because of an unpredictable collision of small things. I found Eric’s sections about the minutae of the accident, the legal arguments, the leaden language of official documents, to be a slow read that interupts the flow of emotions as Gina, Tamsin, Donovan, Maggie and Jules process their grief.
Ultimately, Jules is the catalyst for resolution. Transformed from plumber to artist, his reputation has gradually grown. Now a commission from the Tate Modern to produce a collection of art about the disaster allows ‘the 59’ to achieve a form of public resolution to their grief. The story came alive for me with Jules and his art. He takes the story of each survivor or relative and uses small items to tell a huge story, about their grief, their anger, the need to hit out, the need to be recognised.
Davis writes well about the powerful emotion unleashed by the accident, and its lasting effects. This book is about the nature of victimhood and how it is possible to shake it off if you have the will to do so. But that does not mean forgetting. Davis shows the transition of remembering; at the beginning, the second inquest has refreshed the trauma anew; but at the end, memories are welcomed in.
‘Smash All The Windows’ won the inaugural 2019 Selfies award, a new award celebrating the quality of indie authors. Selfies is run by Book Brunch in association with the London Book Fair and sponsored by IngramSpark.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Merril Anil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me be honest and say that when I picked up the book, I was hoping for some kind of noir thriller. Some form of a slow-burn psychological thriller. Guess it was my bad to not have read the synopsis of the book before picking it up. In my defence, it is quite common for me to pick up a book based on its cover or just the vibe it gives out. I have quite a few books that I picked up on impulse. I finished this book and still not understanding what happened in the book, decided to go and check its synopsis. What baffled me was the kind of rating it has. The book has almost achieved 5-star reviews and this got me even more depressed. ( even twilight and Da Vinci Code has only 3.5 /4-star rating) I felt that I was the only stupid one to have not seen the appeal of the book 🙁

The second thing was “highly charged work of metafiction”. This word that I have no idea what it means further proves to me I was indeed stupid. I was right in thinking that this book was not for me. It totally wasn’t.

If you ask me what the book was all about then I have no answer. I seriously have no answer because I didn’t understand or comprehend the book. The whole book as per what I can understand is basically a sort of “fictional self-help”? I mean the book basically is about a group of bereaved characters who are struggling in their loss and the future without their loved ones.

I am so happy that I didn’t invest in the physical copy of the book because that would have been a disaster. I had this on audiobook where at least I could fast forward, slow play, even skip. Needless to say, nothing helped because I HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT THIS BOOK.

To me, the book is a looooooooong journal of various stages of people, their inner turmoils, monologues, different people’s concepts of grief, anger and struggles and the idea of dealing with bereavement. That much I got but I am the kind of person who hates preaching and self-help unless it is wrapped and presented in a better fashion. so naturally a book hell-bent on exploring the rawness of grief would be nothing sort of disaster.

Can you imagine, that there are no actual plot developments or events in the book? I mean at the risk of being a spoiler, the book takes place after a major accident happens, leading to the death of a whole lot of people. (The very chapter tells you this in a couple of paragraphs). So now from thereon this book is basically chapter by chapter a journal of how the families of these people who got killed, try to cope and trying to seek justice. Trust me I thought at least seeking justice would be something interesting and eventful… it is not.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all I have to say is that this was not for me. I hated it because it is making me sound stupid. Apparently, this book is some intellectual version of writing only meant for higher IQ or at least not for someone with my brain quality. Or else how do you explain this book’s popularity and rating on Goodreads? Anyways what I understand is that the book is some sort of experimental writing and I clearly failed as its guinea pig. Adios Amigos. I will evacuate this brainy alley before I puddle up on its road. Peace out ✌️

[Lorraine Devon Wilke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning book, written by an author so skilled at both the big and little, the near and far, the personal and the collective, that you’ll walk away from the conclusion feeling as if you’ve truly been on a journey, an emotional, visceral, gut-wrenching, hope-instilling journey with a very human set of characters.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books of Jane Davis and have always found her to be an excellent writer, one with an ability to set time, place, and character with such detail and specificity that her work is memorable. But perhaps her most admirable, enduring trait is the sheer originality of her themes, and the literary, almost poetic, unfolding of her narratives.

In Smash All the Windows, the reader is immediately thrown into a mix of families and individuals who’ve experienced a tremendous tragedy: the death of their loved ones via a disaster in a London subway, one in which fifty-eight people are crushed to death when an overcrowded escalator malfunctions during the height of a pre-holiday rush hour. The tentacles of impact, grief, loss, and despair emanating from this one catastrophe are pervasive and overwhelming, and the story begins by introducing us to the handful of characters Davis chooses to follow, back and forth through time, from before and after the event, to pull apart and explore the whys and hows; the painful, searing experiences of each, whether those on the escalator or those mourning the ones who were.

I found some readerly organization was required to keep the characters straight at the beginning; I had to go back a number of times to recalibrate who was who, which was essential, given the tangential importance of each character’s story, but once that settled in, the varied and poignant process of each survivor as they arched from devastation to, hopefully, some form of—if not acceptance—existential survival, is powerful.

There are two effective devices incorporated in developing the story: 1.) The contemporary inquest into who was at fault for this accident, a storyline that involves a passionate, obsessive attorney and his somewhat beleaguered partner and girlfriend, and 2.) The evolution of an art exhibit organized by one of the victim’s husbands, now an artist of note, intended to honor and memorialize the victims and their families.

In the first, we are immersed in viewing the tragedy from all sides and from every perspective; in the second, we witness slow, tender, painful moments of healing brought about by the sensitive, selective gathering of pieces of the victims’ lives into a powerful, moving art installation. Climbing inside both narratives—one tortuous and terrifying; the other tentative but uplifting—makes for a beautiful juxtaposition. Davis never fails to follow both with authenticity and beautifully articulated observation.

This is a compelling, memorable read; highly recommended. And once you’re done with this book, if you haven’t yet, go pick up some of Jane’s other work. She won’t disappoint.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

All too often we watch dreadful disasters unfold on our television screens, and after the initial outrage, we spare little thought for those who are left to pick up shattered pieces of lives which have been terribly altered. However, it's not just about those who survive such a tragedy, it's also about the families left behind, those forgotten victims who have to fight for their voices to be heard when everything around them has gone quiet.

Smash all the Windows shares the emotional aftermath of a London tube station disaster and we meet the families of the victims as they consider the ruling at the second inquest that the crowd did not contribute to their own deaths. That this second ruling comes thirteen years after the original disaster only proves, once again, just how slowly the wheels of justice turn. With little hope of a normal life, the families endure as best they can but irreversible loss just seems to get in the way of living any kind of life, and coping with the aftershocks of grief and heartache never end.

This is a very different view of a difficult subject, and whilst the author confronts disaster in very contemporary style, she also brings her characters to life in a totally believable way. Running throughout the whole of the story is an aching vulnerability which I found quite heart-breaking, and yet, despite the burden of sadness which runs like an emotional thread, the story has, at its heart, a message of reconciliation and, dare I say it, a little bit of hope.

There is no doubt that Smash all the Windows is an emotional read, but it’s also an inspiring glimpse into power of the human spirit, and how in the end, we all need to reach out to somebody, as we never really know when, or indeed how, our own journey will end.

[Jean Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense, brilliant 'What would I do?' emotional roller-coaster

Layer by layer, we meet the people affected by a horrific, fatal disaster in a London underground station. We know from the start of both the disaster and the final court verdict, clearing the victims of 'mob behaviour' so the suspense comes from puzzling out motives, relationships and consequences. We get close to several very different characters and these people are so real that I am still worrying about how their lives will continue. I'm especially concerned for Eric, whose passion for justice led to this long-awaited verdict, but also, ironically, lost him his legal career. How true that too much passion causes damage, and it's the cool brains that can sustain these long legal fights to the end. Thank goodness for the Sorrels of this world.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read about tragic loss but, beyond the morbid fascination that draws us to read about accidents, there are moments of warmth, humanity and even heroism. What will stay in my mind is the way people in this story help each other, even in a crowd, even at risk of their own lives. How wonderful and important to have something in opposition to mob rule - I think Jules, the widowed French artist who shapes an exhibition from the survivors' loss, might call it 'esprit de foule' and challenge the negative association.

This is a book you want to talk about and I can see why it's being taken up by reading groups (encouraged by the author's suggestions for discussion questions) I buy every book Jane Davis writes and have never been disappointed. I love the way she combines Annie Proulx's meticulous use of factual detail with Jodi Picoult's moral dilemmas. She makes me wonder what I would do and she helps me understand other people.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book draws you into the world of the many people affected by a major disaster and the author addresses the emotions and feelings surrounding some very difficult times - ones that many people in real life have had to (and still do) endure.
At times it is dark and mysterious, weaving you in and out of the characters lives before, during and after the incident, raising important points and sometimes questions, inviting the reader to think and reflect on those lives affected and how they carry on, giving you an insight into their thoughts and emotions.
You could almost be there with the characters as you read because they feel so real - a skill of Jane Davis' that I have come to enjoy when reading her books.
As you read on, it urges you to want to know more and all of a sudden you're at the next chapter, and taken off into another person's life caught up in the tragedy, which at times takes you a bit off scent but in turn, leaves you wanting more from the next person!!
So it keeps you hooked until they come back later in other chapters and you're right back there with them. I can imagine that's how it is too, as I said before, weaving in and out.... It looks at the whole thing from many points of view and I think it has bravely taken on a very sensitive subject whilst showing compassion and understanding.
It is a powerful, thought provoking read which raises awareness of the fallout from major incidents and interestingly, how it also brings people together.

[Heather Doughty · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I won this book via the Goodreads Giveaway program. This has not influenced my review.***

I am imagine this must have been quite difficult for the author to write. The book seemed well researched, so the amount of time it took to create the scenario, the characters, the background research - it must have been emotionally consuming for Ms. Davis. I wonder if the character named Eric is perhaps similar to how she feels in creating a book like this - it's all consuming.

This book is feels quite heavy, and it was a smart idea to alter the timeline to include the hopeful and "healing" present day story. This created lightness to the darkness of reading about loss and pain. I appreciated the idea of unique stories for each victim as this is a true concept. No two stories are the same even within families. Some families grow tighter, some break apart, some stay together but live separate lives, and some just barely live. I appreciated the depiction of people coming together because of circumstance and out of necessity. The bond they had to build created something even more beautiful in the end.

Overall, this is a fascinating story about what happens after a mass tragedy: loss, blame, justice, figuring out how to keep living, and ultimately how to heal.

[Chantelle Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I have read by Jane Davis, and it's safe to say I am a fan. I enjoy her writing style, and I feel I am in safe hands when it comes to her delivering memorable characters. This new novel does not disappoint. Smash All The Windows is a complex and ambitious novel spanning the lives of several characters who have been affected by the tragic deaths of 58 people on a London Underground escalator. Much in the same way the victims were blamed by the authorities and the press after the Hillsborough tragedy, the people involved have had to fight tooth and nail to get justice for their loved ones. The timeline jumps back and forth. Sometimes we are in the viewpoint of a character who died that day, and sometimes we are seeing the impact of their loss on a relative or friend. I grew to love all the characters, those living and deceased throughout this book and I can confess to shedding a tear or two as I progressed through the novel. It's a sad yet beautiful story about the human spirit and families search for truth and justice in the aftermath of a tragedy that should never have happened. Brilliant writing, perfect characterisation and a particularly perfect and poignant ending. Highly recommended!

[M.K. Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This is my book of the year to date. I didn’t read the reviews, to be honest I didn’t even read the blurb. I’d read this author before, the book was on offer and appeared in my newsfeed, so I bought it. So glad I did. Wonderful characters, with stories which jump back and forth before the incident to after it, dragging you into their despair, and how they cope with the enormity of their grief. You get a glimpse into lives of the victims immediately before ‘the incident’, and it’s heart-breaking because you know what’s coming. I particularly loved the character of Eric and his relationship with Sorrel, and although I know this is a stand alone novel, I would love to think they find another cause to champion. As an aside, I’m not a huge fan of modern art – I simply don’t ‘get’ it most of the time – but I really wanted to attend that exhibition. Highly recommended.

[Katrina Shawver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smash all the Windows is a compelling read. Davis has a way with compact prose that makes you feel you are in the scene, and she does it in as few words as possible. The book is strong on dialogue so it is a quick read. She weaves the story through several key people, in look-backs to a single key event, and then wraps it all up at the end. As with anyone touched by a tragic event, the story reminds us that for the victims and their families, closure can be elusive. It is my first novel by Jane Davis, but I will definitely be reading more of her work. Jane Davis is a British writer, so there are some minor colloquial terms and events US readers need to adjust to. Congrats to Jane Davis on a job well done.

[Bronwyn Kotze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Davis has quickly become one of my favourite authors and this book confirms exactly why!
The story begins 20 years after a tragedy and the victims are finally absolved from causing their own deaths...and Davis takes you on a beautiful, albeit sad journey with those left behind and how they cope (or not) with the losses. It weaves seamlessly between the past and present and you feel every emotion along with the characters.
This is one of the best books I have read this year.
I was given an advanced copy of this book.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was simply stunning – a portrait of grief and loss with immense emotional depth, an examination of blame and responsibility, an ultimately uplifting read but tinged with the sadness that none of it really matters as those who remain attempt to survive it all in their own individual ways. The narrative moves backwards and forwards between the events of the day and the parts played by individuals – with searingly real images – to the aftermath, the vindication and the continuing lives of the parents, siblings and partners.

The characterisation is wonderful – real people, heartbreaking family portraits, tangible emotion, making the reader constantly question their own response if caught up in a similar situation. The writing is superb, the emotional impact intensified by the use of present tense to create the feeling of being in the moment, with scenes that touch you to the heart, an unexpected and perfect focus on the healing power of art, and a use of imagery that’s quite unforgettable. Recommended without reservation.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful, beautifully written and complex novel that documents the emotional turmoil of five families who have lost loved ones in a major public disaster. At once emotional and gripping it is also a joy to read thanks to Davis' effortlessly beautiful writing style. In my view, this really is Booker Prize material. The other reviews here say it all and I would urge you to read them if in any doubt about buying this book.

I bought the print copy of this book from Jane Davis at its launch at London Book Fair last year. More fool me for waiting so long to read it!