Possibly not as good as her stunningly superb Gods in Alabama, Between, Georgia (Joshilyn Jackson, Warner Books 2006) is nevertheless a very worthy read. You get to love the protagonists and hate their enemies. You get immersed in a world of no sound and no sight, the world that belongs to the sufferers of the Usher syndrome, but it’s a world of love and coping and survival, not a world of the handicapped. You get to experience the most unique love story of all: that between a mother and an adopted child. And you get a tasty dose of the South.
The only error I feel the writer may have made was to begin with a back flash - which, although fundamental to the story, didn’t allow us to experience the narrator’s personality. Once you get through the first chapter, though, you don’t want to stop reading.
I’m on holiday at the moment and neglecting my own writing in favour of reading other people’s fiction. The other book I managed to finish lately (between watching Casino Royale and The Queen, both, incidentally, highly enjoyable) is another Nicci French, The Memory Game. I really liked this one, even though the twist was fairly predictable and the protagonist a smoker. I now have a whole pile of books by the same author duo, and I’ll get onto them as soon as I’ve given my book club read a chance. Something like Alentejo Blues... no idea....
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