Disraeli Avenue

by Caroline Smailes

A novella from Caroline Smailes featuring characters from her critically acclaimed debut, In Search of Adam.

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

AKA: Caroline^^Wallace

Reviews

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this novella thanks to HarperCollins UK, HarperPress/4th Estate/The Friday Project via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I read the eBook format.

Disraeli Avenue is a street with thirty-two houses on it, behind each door lives the characters that feature in the book.

The book is written after Caroline Smailes had tremendous feedback from people after writing her book In Search of Adam , telling the story of a girl called Jude Williams who lived at 9 Disraeli Avenue. Jude suffered emotional and physical abuse. Many readers identified with Jude.

The profits from the sale of Disraeli Avenue will go to the charity One in Four , the charity is run for and by people who have experienced sexual abuse.

The novella is written in a unique format, as we move around the different houses and hear the voice of those that live behind the doors. It was a book I related to very much, perhaps more so than some readers might as it's set in my home town of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England. Many familiar places popped up in the stories being told.

The book is both funny and sad, poignant and flippant, cheeky and serious, it's a mix of everything. That would be expected on any suburban street, the different lives of those that live there. It made me laugh in some places.

Lymouth Bay was shaped like a banana. There was a pier at each end and three caves lived in the cliff. Just over the left pier. Sat tall on a throne of rocks. There was a lighthouse. The most beautiful. The most elegant. A white lighthouse. Legend had it, that hundreds and thousands of small green men with orange hair lived in it. I never saw them. But. Paul Hodgson (Number 2) had seen one buying a quarter of Toasted Teacakes in Brian's newsagents.

This book won't be everybody's cup of tea, as the style of writing for each story behind the front door, the voice behind the house number is very different, readers may relate to some of it but not all of it. However, it all comes together to paint a picture of the lives in this street.

There is Geordie slang used a few times, the local lingo used in Newcastle for some of it's residents, some of it is hilarious.

Ah don't care if they're supposed to be cleaner than other pigs. It's got te stink the hoose oot. It's not leik the houses on wor street are huge. Apparently sheh's gunna let him keep it in his bedroom. Can yee imagine what a shock it'd be if he ever too a lass hyem fre a shag?

Aye don't myek is laugh anymore. Ah swear te God, Ah'm gunna piss in me keks.

No, I didn't make spelling mistakes, Geordie slang and accent written as it's spoken. Now, I am a local so I get it and can read it and know what is being said. Some readers may struggle with it, especially if the accent and location is unfamiliar totally. It's a small part of the novella however, so don't let that put you off. And it's funny, really funny in some places.

We meet the characters, the residents, some of them let us into their thoughts and feelings, some of them tell us what they are doing and where they have been, some of them tell us things that we are shocked by.

I think that I was nine when Eddie first climbed into my bed at night and asked. 'Will yee take yer nightdress off and let me cuddle yee?' I needed him to love me. I would do anything for my older brother.

All is not as it should be behind some of these doors.

If you like a short novella that has a message behind it and is different to anything you may have read before, Disraeli Avenue may be a book you enjoy. However I don't think it will be for every reader. Many may miss the meaning in the message. But those that buy it, remember your money goes to a worthwhile charity.

[Anthem Book Review · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are 32 residents living behind multi-colored doors from all walks of life. Some not so moral, most actually are very immoral. Some are just getting by, like many living in poverty, hoping, wishing on a lottery win to fulfill their dreams.

Smailes wrote a book titled In Search of Adam and Disraeli Avenue is said to be an offset to this book. Jude Williams is one of the main characters in the multiple, mini storylines encountered on Disraeli Avenue. When reading about Jude and her sister Crystal I was really bothered. Poor Jude didn’t have a fighting chance, what with her evil stepmother and weak father. As I continued reading, it is discovered that sexual abuse played a role, along with Jude’s mother’s suicide that takes Jude down a dark path. It was crushing to read the gap this left in Crystal's life.

Truly, entering through the front door and hearing Smailies share the inner dark secrets that others carry makes for a fascinating read and an eye-opening realization that people are never who they seem to be on the outside.

Disraeli Avenue is not a lengthy book, coming in at 220 pages. It’s a good thing too, because there are some doors that you may just want to skip over but the chapters are so short that reading them are tolerable. I recommend reading this book. It is interesting and at times the different characters you encounter are entertaining. I must forewarn you, there are some areas that may make you uncomfortable.

I give this book 2 stars. It is a good read. Even though I didn’t read the first book, In Search of Adam, I didn’t feel lost when reading Disraeli Avenue.

like this review, check out my reviews @ http://www.anthembookreview.blogspot.com

[Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind closed doors, there are many secrets.

We all have secrets. We hold on to them tightly, even if they burn our hands, knowing that they must never see the light of day.

Released into the light, these secrets could heal one life and shatter another. We will take our secrets to the grave, taking comfort in the fact that no one will hear them, that no one will know them. That no one will know who we really and truly are. This is how things have always been.

On Disraeli Avenue, there are lots of secrets; lots of hidden truths buried like treasure. Some are like soft golden coins, shining in the light and begging to be heard. Some are like rubies with sharp edged teeth, waiting to bite the hand that dips into them and draw blood.

In her new novella, Caroline Smailes returns to Disraeli Avenue, the setting for her amazing debut novel In Search of Adam.During In Search of Adam, we got to know the inhabitants of Disraeli Avenue through the eyes of Jude Williams.

Now, Smailes is giving those inhabitants their own voice. Disraeli Avenue consists of thirty-four vignettes, thirty-four insights into the lives of the people who make up Disraeli Avenue.

I’ve actually read this novella seven times now. I read it three times a piece when it was released in it’s previous incarnations and I’ve read it through again. Each and every time, I’m blown away by how incredible Smailes is. It’s a hard task to give thirty-four individual people their own distinctive voice. Most seasoned authors struggle with this for years and never manage to create distinctive voices.

Thankfully, Smailes achieves this with aplomb. Told in diary entries, text messages, letters, receipts, invoices and more, Disraeli Avenue is an intimate and revealing look at the people that make up a neighbourhood; the people that live close to one another never really knowing who their neighbours are.

For those of you who have not read In Search of Adam, you can breathe easy: it’s not necessary to have read In Search of Adam to read Disraeli Avenue. But I can guarantee after reading Disraeli Avenue that you’ll want to read In Search of Adam to see where it all began. Though the subject matter may be grim, covering topics such as death, suicide, sexual abuse, theft, love, friendship, family and more, the novella is incredibly well written and will pull you in.

You will need to keep reading to find out whom you will meet next, whose voice you will hear. Whose life you will get to see into, just for a moment. You will not be able to put this book down. Each chapter brings a new voice, just begging to be heard.

I found this to be one of the novella’s strengths. Smailes has created a tapestry of people, a real live neighbourhood that must surely be around the corner. You start to recognize the different people that populate Disraeli Avenue as they appear in other stories, other vignettes. What’s more, you come to know them. To care for them, even though we only know them for an instant.

Once again, Smailes offers us a study in human nature, a study in what really makes people tick and comes out on top. She isn’t afraid to pull any punches either. There is a vibrancy to her words that leaps off the page and that makes Disraeli Avenue all the more amazing.

I was incredibly moved by Disraeli Avenue and it touched so many different emotions. It has been a long time since a book has done that, has reached down into me and pulled at my heart. I feel I know the people of Disraeli Avenue and I know that they will haunt me for a long time to come. The entire novella was a journey.

Smailes herself has been on quite a journey with Disraeli Avenue and you can read about that here: http://www.carolinesmailes.co.uk/wrot... Every cent of her royalties will go to the charity One in Four. You can get your copy of Disraeli Avenue HERE.

Read and be amazed.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read 99 Reasons Why by Caroline Smailes over two years ago and the character of Kat still hurts my heart. After finishing that book I bought others by Smailes but just haven’t got to reading them all as yet – maybe because I was a little bruised after Kat’s story. Smailes spares no punches – her stories are gritty and real and you might need to look away.

Looking away… it’s why the concept for Smailes’s Disraeli Avenue is clever. It’s a collection of short stories – snippets, really – about what goes on behind the closed doors of each house on a single street, Disraeli Avenue. Like walking by an open window, you can’t help but glance in. What you see varies wildly – stories told through the eyes of a child, through number patterns, through piano practice notes, through memories. They’re told as gossip, as truth, as wishes, as speculation. The observant reader will appreciate the details that link each chapter, as sweet as a mother’s pride and as horrifying as the words in a suicide note.

“I might have another abortion instead and then come back and live with my mam and start seeing Joe and tell Les about killing his baby. My head is spinning with it all. I don’t know what to pick.”

Smailes makes for unflinching, tough reading. She deals with topics of sexual and physical abuse, drug use, incest, suicide, depression and poverty. Scattered amongst these suburban horrors are moments of laughter, care and innocence. And I finish reading her work and I feel wrung out but somehow better for it, because she writes with such exceptional style. And I want more of Smailes on my shelf.

Some of the characters in Disraeli Avenue are linked to those in Smailes’s debut, In Search of Adam, however this collection can be read as a stand-alone book. I received my copy of Disraeli Avenue, from the publisher, The Friday Project, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

3.5/5 Brace yourself.

First published here: https://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.wo...

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Classed as a novella, I feel this reads more like a collection of short stories or snippets about the lives of people on Disraeli Avenue, first visited in the author’s book “In Search of Adam”. Every property on the Avenue is visited in this read and we get a little look at who lives there. The writing is unusual, each house visit is written in a different way, it could be in the form of reflection, a diary entry, letters, conversation or text message or prose and each visit takes place at different times, which could be a bit confusing when trying to “date” the read.

Although not a sequel to In Search of Adam, that book is also visited here with Jude’s story expanded on further here. It can certainly be read as a standalone.

You never know what goes on behind closed curtains, and that is certainly the case here. We are treated to a snapshot of people’s innermost thoughts. Some will shock you, make you smile, some are quite poignant and others are just downright nasty. What all the residents have in common is that none of them appear to be truly content in their lives. They all have something that they are either lying about to themselves or are keeping hidden from their neighbours.

It is an unusual, different read which because of the sheer number of neighbours that we visited, did get a bit confusing at times. Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for a copy of the book in return for a review.

[J.S. Colley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disraeli Avenue is a companion piece to Smailes’ full-length novel, In Search of Adam, which centers on child abuse. The protagonist in the full-length novel is a girl named Jude. The setting of this novella is the street where she lives. Each chapter opens a door to one of the row-houses lining the street and reveals a secret—sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes frightening, something uncomfortable, and sometimes evil. You can live next to a person your entire life and never really know them. Everyone harbors secrets, no matter how significant or trivial. The somewhat unconventional layout and change in point of view with each chapter (door) adds to the overall impact.

The royalties from sales of this novella will go to the One in Four, charity, "an organisation run for and by people who have experience of sexual abuse."

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this touching novella, Caroline Smailes provides fascinating glimpses into the lives of the 32 residents of Disraeli Avenue--the location of her first novel, In Search of Adam. She displays a strong grasp of the regional dialect and social mores of her characters.
Disraeli Avenue expands upon the characters and events that Jude mentions in In Search of Adam. I nearly cried when I read Crystal Williams’ chapter reflecting on Jude, her older sister, and I found myself getting angry while reading Aunty Maggie's reflections. However, ending the collection with Jude’s father somehow made the story feel resolved, and although he doesn't redeem himself completely, he does bring the story full circle.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange novella. Residents of the Avenue each talk about themselves or about each other. There are many things which are described as the best kept secret when just about everyone knows them. Friendships are made and broken and crimes are committed. People are ill - both physically and mentally and there are deaths as well as child abuse and abortions. People help each other - or not - and gossip over coffee. What people don't know about their neighbours they make up.

This is a book which seems a little surreal at times but overall it makes sense and I did feel by the time I'd finished it that I had a real flavour of the road and its residents. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a story about the darkest corners in the hearts of the working class. The chapters are written in a different voice by various characters living in the village. It is full of the things neighbors seem to know about each other, through rumor, observation, what have you. It's a quick read but packs a little punch. The one that really got me was The Queen of tittle-tale, particularly the tidbits on Mr and Mrs Shephard. It's a bit like being a fly on the wall in the lives of strangers.
Enjoyable but short.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This original and engaging book consists of a series of vignettes of the inhabitants of each of the houses on Disraeli Avenue, featuring the characters from Smailes’ earlier novel In Search of Adam. Using a variety of narrative techniques – first-person accounts, letters, diary entries – and with each person having his or her own distinctive voice, we visit each house in turn and learn what goes on behind the closed doors. Well-written, sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, always true-to-life.

[Lorraine Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

his is a short book about the lives of people who live on Disraeli Avenue - each chapter is like a short story on its own. It is a bit like reading a reality show - An ok read but did'nt blow me away. Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. I liked how each chapter was written in a different style and format, but it didn't really keep my attention.