The story is told from the points of view of Josephine and her daughter, Clare. Josephine's story starts back in time when she is just a teenager leaving her family in Ireland to start a new life in London.
I really enjoyed this book at first. I liked the point of view of Clare. She is very sweet and innocent, and the author is quite good at writing from a child's perspective. Although I would say that Clare does seem quite a bit younger than she is supposed to be. I like the way she knows how to deal with her mother so that she incurs the least amount of punishment. Of course, it is very sad what is happening to her and her life is sometimes terrible, but children simply do not think of the world like that. This is Clare's life the only way she knows it, and she loves her mum.
I also enjoyed the chapters about Josephine when she was young and had first left home. Everything was so exciting for her, and she acted as any young girl would have in her position. She really did have so much promise.
However, I found that as the story progressed I developed a strong distaste for Josephine and her inherently selfish nature. Yes, she had endured her share of suffering, but she seemed to me to have very little capacity for love or patience. This somewhat ruined my enjoyment of the book. I felt like there was no victory here for anyone. It was just a very sad book about a very troubled woman and her daughter. I would have liked to know what happened to them both, but the story stops in a place I was not really happy with. There was no ending as such.
Overall, the writing was okay but I have read better books with a similar premise, and although this book was most certainly upsetting, the emotions just weren't there for me. I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth, which thankfully I probably won't remember in a couple of months' time.
I really enjoyed this book at first. I liked the point of view of Clare. She is very sweet and innocent, and the author is quite good at writing from a child's perspective. Although I would say that Clare does seem quite a bit younger than she is supposed to be. I like the way she knows how to deal with her mother so that she incurs the least amount of punishment. Of course, it is very sad what is happening to her and her life is sometimes terrible, but children simply do not think of the world like that. This is Clare's life the only way she knows it, and she loves her mum.
I also enjoyed the chapters about Josephine when she was young and had first left home. Everything was so exciting for her, and she acted as any young girl would have in her position. She really did have so much promise.
However, I found that as the story progressed I developed a strong distaste for Josephine and her inherently selfish nature. Yes, she had endured her share of suffering, but she seemed to me to have very little capacity for love or patience. This somewhat ruined my enjoyment of the book. I felt like there was no victory here for anyone. It was just a very sad book about a very troubled woman and her daughter. I would have liked to know what happened to them both, but the story stops in a place I was not really happy with. There was no ending as such.
Overall, the writing was okay but I have read better books with a similar premise, and although this book was most certainly upsetting, the emotions just weren't there for me. I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth, which thankfully I probably won't remember in a couple of months' time.