Saturday 11 May 2013

Dear Lucy, Julie Sarkissian

Dear Lucy is a good story beautifully told. Lucy is the main narrator, 'I don't have right words for things and I have no good behaviour'. She is sent to live on the farm with Mister and Missus when her mum can't cope with her. The story is of Lucy and her mother, Samantha, another girl sent to live on the farm, and her baby and Mister and Missus and their family struggles. It is a heartbreaking and beautiful story about trying to cope and 'the secret of growing'



The only thing I wasn't sure about was the ending, the narrative just stops, there is no conclusion. Usually I would say that that was a good thing, you're left to make up your own mind. Here though there is a little niggle, did she end it like that for a reason, or could she just not think of the right way to finish it?

The main thing which rings out of this novel though is Lucy's personality, she is a striking and compelling character. She often doesn't fully understand what she sees, so having her as the main narrator is a little like watching what is happening through fog. You are constantly questioning what you're being told.


Thanks Hodder and Stoughton for the proof!

Just finishing reading The Honey Guide by Richard Crompton now.