Devastating in the best possible way. I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but that is how the book felt to me. Exquisite and painful.
Such unbelievable human and social insight condensed into a narrative that still somehow manages to be engaging and entertaining. Even funny!
What happens when the grubby UK tabloid press collides with an Irish family on a London estate? What lengths will the young reporter go to get his “story”? What actually happened to the little girl? What happens when people are desperate? Where does abuse go? What dark secrets lie in their past lives in Ireland (if any)? Who is to blame for all this?
I like the fact that you get into the heads of multiple different characters and that you get their backstory mixed in with the ongoing case, interviews etc. The reporter character paints an accurate description of the type of tabloid journalism that feeds off trauma.
Feverish, documentary-style, and nuanced, this is the sort of book that will stay with you.
Definitely a writer to watch!
Leave a Comment