This novel is heartrending in places, with a split time narrative by Carol, the main character, recounting her present and a significant time in her past. Little Monster is how her aunt describes her, and is a fitting description for the child in the present part of the narrative. The fact that this child has taken the name of a cartoon character didn't scape me from early on in the novel, although it took Carol a while to make the connection. The character the girl has called herself after is a fairly nasty character.
I agree with the comment from "Time Out" 'Lambert reads like a writer at the height of his game rather than one just starting out'.
When I was thirteen, my father killed my mother.....
How do you recover from something like that? Carol never quite does. Sent to live with an aunt who barely tolerates her presence, life would be unbearable were it not for Uncle Joey. Years later, he's also the man with whom she builds a home and a future - but when Carol helps to rescue a young refugee from the sea, all that threatens to unravel, just as surely as it did when she was thirteen.
This book had me hooked, and again, I didn't want to put it down.
Charles Lambert's blog is here
Labels: Charles Lambert, General fiction
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