Between looking after her brother, working two low-paid jobs, and trying to take part-time college classes, Lynette is dangerously tired. Every penny she's earned for years, she's put into savings, trying to scrape together enough to take out a mortgage on the house she rents with her mother. Finally becoming a homeowner in their rapidly gentrifying Portland neighbourhood could offer Lynette the kind of freedoms she's never had. But, when the plan is derailed, Lynette must embark on a desperate odyssey of hope and anguish.
Written with all Willy Vlautin's characteristic and heart-wrenching empathy, The Night Always Comes holds up a mirror to a society which leaves too many people only a step away from falling between the cracks.
***
(@FaberBooks, 1 June 2021, ebook, 171 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
***
***
I chose this book at random from a list of available titles because I liked the cover. I'd never heard of the author before and didn't even read the blurb. I thought this was a terrific read and might check out the author's other books. This is quite a dark and gritty book and it's hard to read and unpleasant at times. I mean that as a compliment. There's a sense of hopelessness running through the whole book as Lynette struggles to keep her fragile life in one piece when her mother throws her a curve ball. This is a brutal, compelling book.
