The cover is evocative in its starkness and it is very clear that this is a story of damage and distance not love and closeness. Their faces are not on show, there is no contact between mother and daughter, and they are looking out to see, to an escape.
Josephine returns home after 17 years at her mothers I’ll health. It is clear that she felt a distance and no love from her mother and couldn’t wait to run from her childhood home. The unravelling of family secrets on the trip explain the reasons for her estrangement and are uncomfortable to read at points.
What is unfortunate here as is the case in abusive situations, is that in turn Josephine is projecting emotional distress on her own ten year old daughter without realising it.
I especially liked the development of their two stories and love that the author has captured both of their personal voices. That of Clare is done very well using a number of childlike associations of rewards for behaviour, and an almost sing-a-long pace at times.
Although a difficult read due to the subject matter and its content in places, it is a well written and emotive story.
Josephine returns home after 17 years at her mothers I’ll health. It is clear that she felt a distance and no love from her mother and couldn’t wait to run from her childhood home. The unravelling of family secrets on the trip explain the reasons for her estrangement and are uncomfortable to read at points.
What is unfortunate here as is the case in abusive situations, is that in turn Josephine is projecting emotional distress on her own ten year old daughter without realising it.
I especially liked the development of their two stories and love that the author has captured both of their personal voices. That of Clare is done very well using a number of childlike associations of rewards for behaviour, and an almost sing-a-long pace at times.
Although a difficult read due to the subject matter and its content in places, it is a well written and emotive story.