Set in Manchester, we follow Ria, a charity worker who helps abused women find refuge. It’s a grotty northern tale and this extract paints an accurate image of the Industrial North and the daily troubles.
The character development it excellent, Ria comes across as a strong woman with well hidden weaknesses, with a close knit group of friends who rely on each other in the challenges of their lives. The charity work involves sheltering beaten women, so when the violent husband rocks up they have to stand firm and shut the door on their abuser faces.
The setting of Manchester is good and describes the tawdry city well, the attitudes of the Mancunian under classes also reflects the low wages and lack of ability to manage mounting debts, an excellent primer for anybody considering a city break here.
It’s not all poverty and grim toil, there is the warmth of Ria’s family life, her loving husband, children and close friends. This offsets the otherwise claustrophobic environment.
Ria has an oppressive father, in this extract a little has been revealed about him, he is quite the little Hitler but now should be firmly in her past. She fought against his control and found her own life, leaving the twisted legacy of the relationship she retains with her mother, who she sees every Saturday. The book cover does not suit the style of this read, it’s too Hitchcock by far.
The latter portion of this read drops a slight bombshell, she has a stalker who has sent her a phone with a video of her on it and a text saying “I’m watching you”, her character is stoic and with mouthy Mancunian prose “No shit Sherlock”. This means only one thing, confrontation, nothing good will come of this. It will be interesting to see how the saviour of the abused becomes abused, and how she deals with it. I’m hoping that Ria has the support structure and we see things from both sides, she is a likeable character who I want to make it through.
What motivates such horrid behaviour? how you can deal with it when it happens, I hope that this gives a ray of hope to the abused out there. This should be discussed more, especially by men, who are often the oppressors. I fear that this will suffer in readership/reviews due to the serious nature of the plot, but this stands up by itself based on writing quality alone, should be a good read so read it.
The character development it excellent, Ria comes across as a strong woman with well hidden weaknesses, with a close knit group of friends who rely on each other in the challenges of their lives. The charity work involves sheltering beaten women, so when the violent husband rocks up they have to stand firm and shut the door on their abuser faces.
The setting of Manchester is good and describes the tawdry city well, the attitudes of the Mancunian under classes also reflects the low wages and lack of ability to manage mounting debts, an excellent primer for anybody considering a city break here.
It’s not all poverty and grim toil, there is the warmth of Ria’s family life, her loving husband, children and close friends. This offsets the otherwise claustrophobic environment.
Ria has an oppressive father, in this extract a little has been revealed about him, he is quite the little Hitler but now should be firmly in her past. She fought against his control and found her own life, leaving the twisted legacy of the relationship she retains with her mother, who she sees every Saturday. The book cover does not suit the style of this read, it’s too Hitchcock by far.
The latter portion of this read drops a slight bombshell, she has a stalker who has sent her a phone with a video of her on it and a text saying “I’m watching you”, her character is stoic and with mouthy Mancunian prose “No shit Sherlock”. This means only one thing, confrontation, nothing good will come of this. It will be interesting to see how the saviour of the abused becomes abused, and how she deals with it. I’m hoping that Ria has the support structure and we see things from both sides, she is a likeable character who I want to make it through.
What motivates such horrid behaviour? how you can deal with it when it happens, I hope that this gives a ray of hope to the abused out there. This should be discussed more, especially by men, who are often the oppressors. I fear that this will suffer in readership/reviews due to the serious nature of the plot, but this stands up by itself based on writing quality alone, should be a good read so read it.