Heather McGowan

This isn't a book I could read quickly - the stream-of-consciousness style demands close attention. The story interweaves the past and the present, dialogue, thoughts and quotations in a way that reminded me of reading T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. As I started reading I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to stick with it (part of me resented being made to work so hard), but I was drawn into Catrine's experiences and found parallels with experiences of my own school days (Lilt! I'd forgotten all about Lilt!) in the England of the 1980s which gave a glow of nostalgia to the tale.… (meer)

McGown's style is definitely challenging - the reader must ease into the words before (s)he can ease into the story. The effort is well worth the while, however.

The author leads us into a world of ambiguity where admiration and friendship and where the need to help and protect turn to passion. The shift is subtle but relentless and the reader is always left guessing as to how far things where go, how silent or vocal bystanders will be, how helpless or instigating the characters really are. It's a portrayal of generosity turned weakness and neediness turned cruelty. No one comes out of the story unscathed, reader included.… (meer)