Being Tommy's mother is too much for Sonya.
Too much love, too much fear, too much longing for the cool wine she gulps from the bottle each night. Because Sonya is burning the fish fingers, and driving too fast, and swimming too far from the shore, and Tommy's life is in her hands.
Once there was the thrill of a London stage, a glowing acting career, fast cars, handsome men. But now there are blackouts and bare cupboards, and her estranged father showing up uninvited. There is Mrs O'Malley spying from across the road. There is the risk of losing Tommy - forever.
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There she is, lethal and irresistible, my high-kicking sidekick, and there goes that mink of a song, 'Impossibly Beautiful', and there is the sky so high and the light so bright and the sand warm velvet beneath the soles of bare feet, and here comes the rush, an intense feeling of connection with all that is good and right in this world; my son's sticky hand in mine as he stares at the sky, my dog trotting alongside, his back coat glinting in the sunlight. 1
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(@BloomsburyBooks, 27 May 2021, ebook, 320 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox)
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I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of Shuggie Bain as it deals with similar themes. I thought it was incredibly sad and moving at times. I really felt for Sonya, struggling to cope with being a single mother on benefits, making her life more bearable with drinking. My heart went out to her. Her love for Tommy is evident despite her chaotic life and mistakes and the judgement of everyone else. This is a tear-jerker.
