Belief is Cassie's gift, so much so that she believes herself to be whoever those in her life tell her she is Cassie, Kat, Kitty, even, as Miriam insists, Casilda, an 11th century Muslim princess from Toledo. Cassie s loyalty to Miriam s extraordinary internal world survives a traumatic incident on a beach and a coming of age fraught with hostility, but is strained by an act of betrayal that propels her towards Liam, another person waiting to tell Cassie who she really is.
EXTRACTShe watched Miriam sleep, hair a tangle of soot and pitch. Four years and many defeats ago, Miriam had told her she'd chosen her for three things: the thick fair plait that swung below her waist; that she was so small; and for her name. Cassie thinks of herself as the ram caught in the thicket, the replacement sacrifice when Abraham was no longer compelled to kill his son. She continually warns Miriam not to go looking for trouble. Let's find another road, she says. But she hadn't see trouble coming today.
WHAT I THOUGHTI thought This Is The End of the Story was great. I found it absorbing. I loved the way the author portrays the intense almost disturbing friendship between Cassie and Miriam. It reminded me a lot of the relationship between the two girls in the movie Heavenly Creatures. The book uses an unusual structure, the narrative is non-linear and there is very little signposting to help ground you in a place or time. I would have expected this to be confusing but it works in This Is The End Of The Story. I loved the way the author portrays the friendship between Miriam and Cassie. I found their obsession with each other fascinating if a little disturbing. Miriam disturbed me. She sees Cassie as more than a friend and is obsessed to the point of jealousy almost as if Cassie is her lover. I loved the way the narrative gradually reveals information drip by drip especially the shocking incident at the beach when both girls are teenagers. I loved This Is The End Of The Story and would highly recommend it.#
