Wednesday, January 28, 2015

As She Left It




As She Left It is my most recent read -- and I think the first Catriona McPherson novel I've read. An Anthoiny award winner last year, it's set in modern day northern England -- about which I know next to nothing -- and I found it a fascinating and compulsive read -- a likable, stubborn, driven protagonist, a wealth of colorful and interesting characters, and many, many questions that beg to be answered.  

So much of my reading of novels set in England deals with the first part of the twentieth century and the 'gentry.' This is working/middle class, ethnically diverse, modern day England.  Is this the way it really is?  Maybe Jennyfreckles or Martin will have read this and can enlighten me.  

No matter -- I really enjoyed spending time in this world. 

Here's what the author's website says:

When she was twelve, Opal Jones ran away from home.. Now, thirteen years later, she's back for the first time. Her mother has died but everyone else is still there: nosy Mrs. Pickness, the Joshi family taxi firm, Fishbo he music teacher, and even old Margaret, Opal's favourite neighbor of all. On the surface everything is exactly as she left it. Underneath, nothing is the same.

10 comments:

Ms. A said...

Enjoy your read!

Merisi said...

That sounds fascinating! A twelve year old running away sure makes one wonder what happened to her in the years before she returned. Makes me want to read it! ;-)

Stella Jones said...

It is true that the North of England is very different from the south and I hope you enjoy your read Vicki. I also find it fascinating to read about by gone times and how how life was lived.

Barbara Rogers said...

Definitely peaked my interest.

Vagabonde said...

This books sounds like something of interest. I am trying not to buy any new books and instead to read those I have gathered for so many years. Right now I am reading a book I bought in 1992! “Trespassers on the Roof of the World” by Peter Hopkirk. It is about the first travelers to Tibet. They went through extraordinary adventures.

Martin said...

This is a new name to me, Vicki. One for my list, perhaps? Novels set in the north of England have traditionally tended to be gritty and bleak, but I'm sure that stereotype is fast fading. Jennyfreckles would be well placed to comment, as she is in the north. I, on the other hand, am a soft southerner.

Jime said...

Joan and I spent 4 days in Yorkshire. A beautiful town (very old) in Northern England. The northern church of England is there. James Herriot's ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL took place in the Yorkshire Dales. Beautiful and lush, barren and wind swept. We went there because of his books.
Thanks for bringing these memories back to me.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Sounds intriguing..I need to order a few new books on my Kindle, I keep rereading my old favorites.

jennyfreckles said...

I haven't read it sorry, but it sounds like one for my list.

Brian Miller said...

huh i have no t heard about this one....will have to check it out...i am reading several YA books right now that my students are reading...