Gareth Thompson

This was such a sad book; I cried when I read it. It reminded me a lot of Freak the Mighty. It is essentially the story of two young men whose lives have fallen apart. The main character is Glenn, who has been wrenched from his friends, school, home and mother by his father to live in a village of the Lake District in England. This is a village where everyone knows everyone else and outsiders (especially those like his rockabilly father) who don't fit in are shunned. Glenn's only friend is Laura , the so-called plain step-sister of the controlling Lavinia (who everyone else thinks is beautiful). His father is refusing to talk about where his mother is and what has happened and there are bullies and other kids who make his life extremely miserable. Then suddenly into Glenn's life appears Harlequin; in fact, he saves Glenn's life. H is an enormous boy who is dressed in makeup and weird clothes and speaks like he is only 5 years old. H is obviously hiding from something and is mentally unstable; and Glenn (despite his own problems) feels compelled to discover what and who H is running from ; -in his past and in the present. All with tragic consequences.… (meer)

This book starts off well with the story of a birthday party that goes horribly wrong. Samson Ashburner is an outside in his small English village, despite his family having lived there for at least 3 generations, because his family owns the local pub and aren't farmers like the rest of the village. When Samson is 10, he is made to go to a party by his mother and is bullied into taking part in a game of "chicken" with a combine harvester. Unfortunately for overweight Samson, he isn't quick enough and suffers terrible cuts to his face. Fast-forward to 7 years later and Samson has never forgiven his mother for making him go to the party - he shuns everyone - wearing a hoodie and shades all the time to hide his appearance. He also spends most of his time in Ashburner's woods behind the pub making charcoal the old fashioned way, and believes the wood belongs to him after finding a deed to it on a scrappy piece of paper.
Then into his life comes the mysertious Angel who tells him she is a gypsy and she vows to help him fight the new landlord who threatens to bulldoze the trees and build holiday flats in his beloved wood. At first, Angel seems to be on his side but soon Samson discovers that everything she has told his a lie. Can he save Ashburner's Wood, save his mother from having a heart attack and ever believe Angel again?

This book is for mature readers as it contains some sexual content. The idea was very good but the delivery was a bit laboured.… (meer)