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Group Read - White Is The Coldest Colour by John Nicholl - July
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Hi Christine, The Cleveland in the story is in the UK. There were three major cases in Cleveland, Rochdale and the Orkneys that destroyed a lot of careers. I was in Nicholson's position when we became aware of the ring in our part of the country. It was very much a team effort, but took a heavy toll on some of the social workers and police officers involved. The book is entirely fictional, but is informed by those events. I can honestly say that I gave no thought whatsoever to my future career while involved with the case. There were more important things to worry about.
Hi Perri, Thanks for your kind comment.
Hi Stephanie, Galbraith is a man devoid of empathy or virtue. Men like him bring nothing but unhappiness and pain into the world. His offending behaviour is the only thing he values. I would call him a monster, but sadly he is all too human.
Just finished. BRAVO, John!!!! And I cannot wait for the next book. I am so excited about your next subject, John! Whew...
John, thanks for answering my questions. By "taking a large toll on the social workers and police officers" are you meaning emotionally or career-wise? I am sure both, but what were you specifically referring to in post # 213?Sorry, but another one for you--did you run across any "authorities" who were/were highly suspected to be criminal?
Hi Christine, Physically and emotionally. We investigated people from all walks of life, but I was never involved in a case where an agency deliberately perverted justice. Or at least, I'm not aware of any. There was sometimes a reluctance on the part of some professionals, who were not involved in the work day in day out, to accept reality. They took some convincing, particularly when they knew the alleged perpetrator.
Oh, and Christine, thanks for the Bravo! It's appreciated!
Hi Janet, My comment related to your advance apology. I didn't know what you thought at that time, but the apology suggested it wasn't going to be good.
John wrote: " Galbraith is a man devoid of empathy or virtue. Men like him bring nothing but unhappiness and pain into the world. His offending behaviour is the only thing he values. I would call him a monster, but sadly he is all too human...."When people lack empathy and can't follow any variation of the Golden Rule, I don't think they are human. I'd call them a animals, but that would be an insult to many species
I just open the eBook and just happened to notice this. The name. That was clever, John. I love when the title of a book makes sense with reference to the story, and I get the idea behind your title. I have a tendency to go a little overboard with such things so I might've read between the lines but I'm sure it's close along the lines of what you intended. I love the title, John. I absolutely love it. Some depth!
I'm totally enrapt! At Chapter 16, so I'm going to use spoilers. Intending to finish today and review [I can hardly let this one sut unfinished overnight](view spoiler)
Hi Ishita, You're spot on with regards to the title.Hi E, I think the story makes sense at that time. People were generally more naive regarding the risks posed by sex offenders. Even professional people like teachers were extremely reluctant to accept that a significant number of adults, primarily men, posed a risk to children.
Hi Perri, You're not going to hear me arguing with your point of view.
Hi Mallory, I'm delighted that you've joined the discussion. I really appreciated your email re the first chapter. Thanks again, and I'll look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Ishita, could you put your thoughts regarding the title in spoiler form for us who are finished? Would love to know.
Hello again Mallory, I've just read your spoiler. Wow, very insightful! Agonising sums it up very nicely. I'm delighted you picked up on the Darwinian comment. A convicted child killer in the UK appears to rationalise his appealing crimes in this way. The fact that he can't see the ludicrous nature of this argument despite a high IQ says a lot about him. The Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, also a doctor, held similar beliefs and used them to justify his depraved experiments on twins in Auschwitz. Galbraith is a very similar animal.
Hi Aaron, You'r sister has done brilliantly!
I've just sent her a Goodreads friend request.
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Well, I have my ideas what it means. Just looking for other people's thoughts.
Christine wrote: "Well, I have my ideas what it means. Just looking for other people's thoughts."I'm with you Christine-I thought I knew what it meant, but now I want to know what others think!
Thought I would repost this since we're on page 5 already!A note for all when finished: if it's not too much trouble, would you mind posting your review on Amazon and Amazon UK as well as Goodreads? I know John would really appreciate the effort! :-)
Here are the direct links to each page.
U.S.:
http://www.amazon.com/White-coldest-c...
UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/White-coldest...
John, fabulous ending! I have to admit that I'd have been happy with - uh, an alternative ending, if you get my meaning, but this one is quite satisfactory on more than one level. I do have a question about something that began to bother me: Galbraith constantly refers to children and women only in derogatory terms, and shows what a beastly creature he is; however, there are child protection workers or police who refer to him by using a term that is something I consider extremely offensive to women (the "C" word), and I wonder why you chose to have your good guys constantly use it. Perhaps because it is the worst possible name to call someone? I understand that it's probably realistic to include it in the dialogue, especially given the stress they are under, but I found the word choice rather ironic, I guess.
Yep, I always post to all 3. Has anyone out there been able to post reviews on amazon.ca? I tried very hard and was not ever able to pull it off.
Hi Jean, I find the C word offensive, but I opted for realism. You're spot on to say it would have been used by the police officers in particular as an ultimate insult. Galbraith is repulsive, and they use a repulsive word to refer to him and his kind. I'm glad you liked the ending. It's really divided readers. Some say they love it, and some that they don't like it.
Hi Jan, Thanks for the post re reviews, it's appreciated!
Aaron, does it really matter? And please don't answer that!
Hi Christine, I haven't left reviews on the Canadian site, but have on the Australian and Indian sites. That probably doesn't help, but I thought I'd mention it.
So far I don't understand the title. Is it revealed somewhere I haven't seen, or do we just gather it overall? I do like the boy's photo. I guess it's not Tony, since he's a ginger.
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Thank you again for being so actively involved and answering questions fully. I hope this experience hasn't put you off getting involved with readers again elsewhere. They're a great bunch of folks here and love their Q&As.
Well said Janet! Agree with you wholeheartedly !
I won't be forgetting Dr G anytime soon...
I won't be forgetting Dr G anytime soon...
I won't explain my reasons for the title at this stage, because I don't want to stifle discussion. There is a red tinge to the boy's hair on the cover. I think of him as Anthony. I think it's worth saying that, believe it or not, it's not a photo of a real child on the cover. It was produced by an amazing award winning cover artist here in the UK.
Wow John. It looks like a real photo. The cover is great.
'Haunting' is how I would describe it.
'Haunting' is how I would describe it.
John wrote: "Hi Christine, I haven't left reviews on the Canadian site, but have on the Australian and Indian sites. That probably doesn't help, but I thought I'd mention it."I have never tried those sites, John, but thank you, I will try them.
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And I agree with Janet and Kim. I will never forget this book.
Absolutely, John! Thank you so much for being so generous with your time and for your openness. As has been said several times, child sexual abuse, is more well known today, but your believable work of fiction puts a different perspective on it for many of us, I'm sure. Thank you for that as well.
Thanks, Janet and Kimberley,I guess the fact that the book is stimulating discussion has to be a good thing. Questions have been a lot more insightful and thought provoking than I envisaged. I hope people are finding it worthwhile. Perhaps now isn't the time to decide if I'd do it again!
Thanks, Jean, the book is entirely fictional, as are its characters. Given my background, however, it is inevitably informed by real events. A great many things that happen in the book happened in one case or another over a twenty year period.
Hi Kimberley,Yes, I agree, I was amazed when I first saw it. What a great artist!
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You saying it here doesn't make it any better??!!!
No offensive language or swear words - please!
John wrote: "Thanks, Janet and Kimberley,I guess the fact that the book is stimulating discussion has to be a good thing. Questions have been a lot more insightful and thought provoking than I envisaged. I ho..."
Ha-I love your honesty John! We kept this informal so that you could come and go as time allowed, not keeping to a strict format of any kind. This is one of the reasons why you are seeing some repeated questions that you might have already answered. I think I can speak for the majority of us that you have given your time and allowed us to pick your brain above and beyond our expectations! And we're not done with you yet...if you can tolerate us some more! LOL We are all waiting for the thumbs up that everyone has finished so we can get more involved in the storyline...I hope we haven't scared you off! Thanks for sharing so much of yourself already :)
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Your input has been much appreciated. Like Jan said, you have got involved far more than any of us expected.
Chill, and thanks again.
Jan speaks for me!I went back to the cover and glad I did-I noticed one idea about the title. Also the boy's hair has red highlights. :)
I have another question, John. In the novel, the authorities (law enforcement and social services) have significant fear of losing their jobs if they don't present a tight case against the pedophiles. At any point in your career did you experience these same concerns?