Not long before this novel was published in October 2015 I was lucky enough to get a sneak glimpse at three chapters. I’d loved My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece and Ketchup Clouds so was excited to see what this novel was like. Pitcher has always struck me as a writer who is adept at creating character and getting you to feel sympathetic towards characters who don’t always have something obviously appealing about them.
Tess Turner has always felt like she doesn’t fit in. She says and does things to please people, but the sense of isolation she gives off is pervasive. When the novel opens we see Tess reeling with the realisation that she is not who she thinks she is. After reading a blog entry that her father wrote, Tess learns that ‘dad’ is not her biological father.
While this news would be upsetting, I was struck by the fact that Tess’s relationship with her parents is so bad that she can’t talk to them about what she has seen. Her reaction was, to me, a little odd. Stopping talking and withdrawing from all social interaction was the kind of coping mechanism that I can’t imagine occurring for long.
I’m pleased that I got the opportunity to read this via NetGalley, but it was not one of those novels that I’d urge people to read.