January 2012, Orion
249 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Themes: life in Ireland, life for tye working class, mixed emotions from a stepmother, learning how to clean, having visions, murder, being used by bad people, keeping secrets, shame of mixed class marriage, horrific suspicions, fresh start, gambling, work house, harsh realisation, fear, tissues needed
Summary from Orion
249 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Themes: life in Ireland, life for tye working class, mixed emotions from a stepmother, learning how to clean, having visions, murder, being used by bad people, keeping secrets, shame of mixed class marriage, horrific suspicions, fresh start, gambling, work house, harsh realisation, fear, tissues needed
Summary from Orion
Her past is a secret, but Taney Tyrell is haunted by the future.
Brilliant new novel about a girl with the gift of the second sight, by
Irish author Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.
Ever since Taney was four she's known she could see things before they happened. She also knows that she must keep her gift a secret - at all costs. Teased and isolated by the local children for being strange, as Taney grows older, she has more and more questions. Why is her father so terrified of her gift? What happened to her mother?
Then she meets the mysterious Billy, an outsider just as she is. Charming and attentive, Billy is the first person with whom Taney can simply be herself; with whom she can share her strange burden, and begin, instead, to feel proud of her ability.
But then the visions come - lone girls attacked as they walk home at night. And as Billy begins to withdraw further into himself, Taney must ask herself who to trust - her only friend, or the visions that torment her dreams...
Ever since Taney was four she's known she could see things before they happened. She also knows that she must keep her gift a secret - at all costs. Teased and isolated by the local children for being strange, as Taney grows older, she has more and more questions. Why is her father so terrified of her gift? What happened to her mother?
Then she meets the mysterious Billy, an outsider just as she is. Charming and attentive, Billy is the first person with whom Taney can simply be herself; with whom she can share her strange burden, and begin, instead, to feel proud of her ability.
But then the visions come - lone girls attacked as they walk home at night. And as Billy begins to withdraw further into himself, Taney must ask herself who to trust - her only friend, or the visions that torment her dreams...
Nayuleska's thoughts
I spent half this book in giggles. It isn't meant to be humourous. There's a place called Thundercut Alley which appears a fair few times & is the source of my humour. I misread it as Thundercats, which is a children's cartoon I loved when I was little. Whenever I saw the name, I kept playing the theme tune in my head and wondered how Taney would react if the heroes appeared from nowhere. I constantly feared something awful would happen to Taney, more so when murders happened. That soon stopped my giggles. Taney just wants to do the right thing, which she gets to do after a few harsh lessons of life. It gets 9/10 because it took me a fair few chapters to get used to the language, which was authentic but made it a slower read.
Suggested read
For a girl who was treated more harshly than Taney, try Against the Tide by Theresa Tomlinson
I spent half this book in giggles. It isn't meant to be humourous. There's a place called Thundercut Alley which appears a fair few times & is the source of my humour. I misread it as Thundercats, which is a children's cartoon I loved when I was little. Whenever I saw the name, I kept playing the theme tune in my head and wondered how Taney would react if the heroes appeared from nowhere. I constantly feared something awful would happen to Taney, more so when murders happened. That soon stopped my giggles. Taney just wants to do the right thing, which she gets to do after a few harsh lessons of life. It gets 9/10 because it took me a fair few chapters to get used to the language, which was authentic but made it a slower read.
Suggested read
For a girl who was treated more harshly than Taney, try Against the Tide by Theresa Tomlinson
1 comment:
Love the sound of an Irish tale.
Wagging Tales
Post a Comment