Jael Richardson

Injustice, inequality, racism, segregation, bravery, survival, slavery; I could go on and on. This novel touches on so many issues that have plagued and continue to plague society that I don’t even know where to begin. When I think about what I have read in this novel I feel furious and helpless. I want to be in the story to help change their world, to make a difference, and improve the lives in The Gutter. I want to eliminate all their problems and all the unfairness.

Not far into the novel, I realized I wasn’t reading a work of fiction; I was reading history and current events and I just felt incredibly pissed off. There is nothing portrayed in this novel that has not happened at some point in time throughout history. To make matters worse, many of the injustices in the novel are happening every minute as we go about our day-to-day. I have seen them with my own eyes; racism, gender inequality, mistreatment of Indigenous peoples, government control, and heavy taxation.

Richardson has done an amazing job of awakening the reader’s fighting spirit and has intentionally set out to make this a difficult book to read because life is difficult and has always been difficult. Unfortunately, so many of us choose to look the other way or push the negative aspects of life to the back of our minds instead of going against the grain and standing up for what we believe in. It is so incredibly hard to stand up and speak out because judgment is always upon those who do so, but there are always those few in the crowd who continue to light the torch and keep on marching to make the world a better place for everyone.

Reading this novel during a time of vaccine mandates and freedom convoys has certainly amplified my feelings about it. I was unable to put this book down not because I love the plot and the characters but because this novel speaks the truths of our human situation. This story will always haunt me but I will never love it. Gutter Child is a novel of courage, a novel for the freedom fighting spirit that lives within us all. It is an important novel, one that every man, woman, and child should read to remind them of what has happened, what can happen, and what needs to be done to overcome hardship. Five stars to Gutter Child for making me want to stand up and fight for what’s right.
… (meer)