This is a highly readable, page-turner of a book about rehabilitation and redemption.
Frankie, posh wife of a junior Government minister, is framed for arson and sent to prison. Once released, separated from her husband who is now openly in a gay relationship, rejected by her father and her son, she has to rebuild her life in a boarding-house on the Lancashire coast with ex-cellmate Sal and her partner Buster, autistic Angus the IT whizz-kid, and the mysterious Aunty Dot. On probation, she starts a cleaning job (in her previous life she employed a 'daily') and begins the slow climb to rehabilitation. But mysterious messages threaten her with being returned to prison and she starts talking to a journalist about her husband's murky past. At the same time she begins a relationship with charity manager Nik, a widower with a daughter and a mother.
It's very readable; there's almost too much plot. For me, the best part of the book was the first quarter when the trials facing newly released and nearly destitute prisoners were carefully detailed: this section was clearly thoroughly researched and Frankie and her problems seemed very real. There was a hint that this might be an updated feminist version of the revenge classic The Count of Monte Cristo. But at the 25% first turning point the mysterious text messages arrived and we begin the subplot about the new relationship with Nik and we begin another subplot about son Justin and around the 50% mark we discover that Dot is more than she seems (Elizabeth from The Thursday Murder Club). Soon we reach the third turning point around the 75% mark when the journalist we last met half a book ago turns up trumps and ex-husband Henry's house of cards comes crashing down. The last quarter is then rattled through at a significantly faster pace.
Frankie is a brilliant protagonist and a fearfully honest narrator and most of the other characters are solidly crafted although I could never quite believe in Dot. Of the two antagonists, both male, I was impressed by Nik who was a complex character with both strengths and weaknesses but ex-husband Henry was a pantomime villain with no saving graces whatsoever which drained him of credibility.
But where the focus was on Frankie overcoming the everyday problems facing ex-cons, the writing was strong. This was a promising debut.
Selected quotes:- "For someone brought up as I’d been, those early weeks were not so much a rude awakening as a total tsunami of culture shock." (Ch 2)
- "I could never get my fruit to line up. Story of my life." (Ch 11)
November 2024
Published in 2024 by The Book Guild
I read the 2024 kindle edition
Thank you Dave, that's a very fair assessment. One thing that jumps out at me is that I've never done the 25% 50% 75% thing so if you think its there that must be purely instinctive on my part - working to an outline formula of that kind just isn't how my (damaged) brain works. Thanks again - first review of first book, so that's kind of special.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many stories conform to a four quarters structure!
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