![]() ![]() If it isn't this year's Before I Go To Sleep, I'll eat my laptop. It's easy to see why this caused such a stir at Frankfurt last year. Working-class Daniel, by contrast, was removed from his drug-addict mother at 11 – the same age Sebastian is now – and transformed by Minnie's tough love. The wealthy, like Sebastian's parents, abuse their children but are left alone by social services. Its conclusion is nail-biting courtroom drama, but this is really a novel about behavioural and class boundaries. Similar in some ways to Simon Lelic's recent The Child Who, this moving, insightful debut focuses on the relationship between Sebastian, a child accused of murder, and his solicitor Daniel, who has shrugged off his own damaged childhood but is forced to confront his demons by the disturbing strangeness of Sebastian's case and the death of his estranged foster mother Minnie (a fantastic character). The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne (Piatkus, £6.99) ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |