My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. I'm supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs.
But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I don't say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed.
I did tell Mick that I saw the woman in the buttercup dress, hanging upside down from her seat belt deep in the forest at the back of our house. I told him I saw death crawl out of her. He said he'd give me a medal for lying.
I wasn't lying. I'm a hunter for lost souls and I'm going to be with my real family. And I'm not going to let Mick stop me.
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My thirteenth birthday and I became a hunter for souls. CAKE, 20 AUGUST 1983
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(@FaberBooks, 31 January 2017, ebook, 321 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I really enjoyed The Girl in the Red Coat by the author which I read a few years ago. I thought The Doll Funeral would be right up my street as well. I really enjoyed this book. It took a few chapters for me to get into the book and fully understand what was going on. The book is narrated between Ruby, the mysterious Shadow and Ruby's mother. I found it disturbing at times especially when Ruby recounts Mick's violence towards her. I haven't read anything quite like this.
