The Blurb:
An immigrant boy whose family is struggling to assimilate. A middle-aged housewife coping with an imploding marriage and a troubled son. A social worker at home in the darker corners of Las Vegas. A wounded soldier recovering from an injury he can’t remember getting. By the time we realize how these voices will connect, the impossible and perhaps the unbearable has already happened.
This is a well-written and at times, mesmeric, debut from Mcbride.
This is a multiple viewpoint narrative, so hats come off immediately to anyone who can write such distinct and believable voices. I love novels (and films) that use this device, I love watching how all the ties will tangle and loosen over and over. McBride does this with aplomb.
This is a novel about reaching the very end of your tether, but being able to find enough left in you to “rise” away from whatever has you up against the wall. That all sounds very worthy, but this is very far from being a twee, self-realisation book. It’s themes are, at times, disturbing and dark and I can only assume McBride holds you down under these depths in order to treble the impact of the goodness to be found.
If you are a fan of fraught, but ultimately uplifting, human drama this is defintely a book you need to read, but perhaps a little too “and they lived happily ever after” for the more cycnical amongst you.
A promising and rewarding debut.
Book info:
- ISBN: 9781476738963
- Published by Simon & Schuster, June 2014
- Sent proof copy through Netgalley, many thanks
