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Bold as Love #6
The Grasshopper's Child
Heidi's sweet, feckless father was deep in debt when he got murdered, and her mother's in a secure hospital, suspected of criminal insanity. She was Mum and Dad's carer, and life was hard but sweet. Now she's an Indentured Teen, a
modern slave, which is totally legal in this future England. She's been sent from her home in the city to the desolate depths of the countryside, where people are practically starving, and anything can happen to you.
Her owners are a weird old pair of crazies, she sleeps in a freezing attic, and she still has to turn up for Learning Sessions with the other Mehilhoc "Exempt Teens" (that's young people unfit for agricultural labour camp). To make matters worse, the kids know her whole shameful story, and are fascinated by the tag on her ankle. But it's okay. She has the Police Inspector's phone number, and the memory of his words: "if you recall anything, anything at all, please get in touch . . ." Somehow, someway, stuck out in the deepest sticks, she's going to prove that her Mum didn't kill her Dad. The Grasshopper's Child is an old-fashioned futuristic thriller, set in the same Post-Dissolution England as the legendary Bold As Love series, about young people taking the law into their own hands, and the savagery that hides behind wealth and power: featuring odd characters, atrocious secrets, lost illusions and true friends. And gardening tips.
modern slave, which is totally legal in this future England. She's been sent from her home in the city to the desolate depths of the countryside, where people are practically starving, and anything can happen to you.
Her owners are a weird old pair of crazies, she sleeps in a freezing attic, and she still has to turn up for Learning Sessions with the other Mehilhoc "Exempt Teens" (that's young people unfit for agricultural labour camp). To make matters worse, the kids know her whole shameful story, and are fascinated by the tag on her ankle. But it's okay. She has the Police Inspector's phone number, and the memory of his words: "if you recall anything, anything at all, please get in touch . . ." Somehow, someway, stuck out in the deepest sticks, she's going to prove that her Mum didn't kill her Dad. The Grasshopper's Child is an old-fashioned futuristic thriller, set in the same Post-Dissolution England as the legendary Bold As Love series, about young people taking the law into their own hands, and the savagery that hides behind wealth and power: featuring odd characters, atrocious secrets, lost illusions and true friends. And gardening tips.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
ebook
First published September 12, 2014
43 people want to read
About the author
Gwyneth Jones
153 books108 followersGwyneth Jones is a writer and critic of genre fiction. She's won the Tiptree award, two World Fantasy awards, the Arthur C. Clarke award, the British Science Fiction Association short story award, the Dracula Society's Children of the Night award, the P.K.Dick award, and the SFRA Pilgrim award for lifetime achievement in sf criticism. She also writes for teenagers, usually as Ann Halam. She lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and two cats called Ginger and Milo; curating assorted pondlife in season. She's a member of the Soil Association, the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Frack Free Sussex and the Green Party; and an Amnesty International volunteer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2015
This book arrived in the post mid morning, and I'd finished it by bedtime. Every minute away from it was a minute I wanted to be back in Heidi Ryan's difficult, terrifying world. Gwyneth Jones has given us another heroic protagonist in Heidi, but so many of the young teenage girls and boys in this book show strength and resolution in the face of the power of Empire and the equally inescapable threat of local corruption.
Set in the near future world of the Bold as Love series, 'The Grasshopper's Child' continues the story of an England managed by a foreign power, where austerity, officially sanctioned tech, and the nationalisation of the means of production are an accepted part of life for many, but where the evidence of deeply hidden crimes bubbles to the surface of life in a seemingly idyllic Sussex village.
Recommended for adults and young adults alike.
Set in the near future world of the Bold as Love series, 'The Grasshopper's Child' continues the story of an England managed by a foreign power, where austerity, officially sanctioned tech, and the nationalisation of the means of production are an accepted part of life for many, but where the evidence of deeply hidden crimes bubbles to the surface of life in a seemingly idyllic Sussex village.
Recommended for adults and young adults alike.
August 26, 2019
A welcome return to the world of Bold As Love, with a great main character. The story falls apart a little bit at the very end, but getting there was worth the trip.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews