Anyone who's been near my social media channels lately will know that I've been engrossed in Gabriel Tallent's much talked about debut novel, My Absolute Darling, the instant success of which has been partially attributed to an unsolicited blurb by Stephen King. I have no doubt, however, that this book would have made waves very quickly without that endorsement, had it been so.
I finished reading My Absolute Darling last night and have been unable to stop thinking about it today. There were times I couldn't put it down. I had to force myself to close it at 2am because I had work the next morning. There were times I was so appalled at what I was reading I simply couldn't carry on.
Turtle Alveston is one of the strongest, most convincingly flawed, rounded, incredible and terrible characters ever written - and she's 14. A million-and-one synopses online will tell you she is a dead shot, a loner, equipped to survive anything and anyone - except the person who made her this way, her father Martin. They also touch on Tallent's beautiful writing style and the immense knowledge he has of the wilderness in Mendocino, which brings vivid life to the setting.
But they don't really mention his uncanny knack for knocking you sideways with a detail so vulgar, yet so casual, that I felt physically sick on several occasions. At one point very early in the book, Martin makes Turtle do pull-ups on a rafter whilst he holds a knife between her legs. It's not the first glimpse we get of the depravity of this father/daughter relationship, but it is perhaps the first passage where you get a real sense of how the characters tick and what drives them.
Turtle's relationships and interactions with others, in particular her feelings about other women, are fascinating to read, whilst moments of much-needed humour come from Jacob and Brett, two boys Turtle befriends when they get lost out hiking.
The plot is incredibly well the plot is threaded together. The drama and the relief come in waves. Turtle exists in circumstances the reader can hardly bear to acknowledge, and she exists there convincingly, earning her that badge of modern heroine which she so rightly deserves.
I won't go on, I'd simply urge you to read it, and before they make it into a film, which is inevitable.
In other news, I've been lucky enough to receive a beautiful new laptop as a gift, since my old one was so close to death that I could no longer write on it. Which brings me to my next thing; I am back in the writing zone. The Post-Its and mood boards are out and I'm workshopping characters for something entirely new, which is making me both excited and nervous. I find the early stages of writing anything are almost an act, until writing proper sets in and things flow. It all feels a bit contrived and new, but I really love creating worlds and characters. Hammering out the major bones of the plot will be a long process but one which I hope will leave me feeling as enthused as I do now.
I finished reading My Absolute Darling last night and have been unable to stop thinking about it today. There were times I couldn't put it down. I had to force myself to close it at 2am because I had work the next morning. There were times I was so appalled at what I was reading I simply couldn't carry on. Turtle Alveston is one of the strongest, most convincingly flawed, rounded, incredible and terrible characters ever written - and she's 14. A million-and-one synopses online will tell you she is a dead shot, a loner, equipped to survive anything and anyone - except the person who made her this way, her father Martin. They also touch on Tallent's beautiful writing style and the immense knowledge he has of the wilderness in Mendocino, which brings vivid life to the setting.
But they don't really mention his uncanny knack for knocking you sideways with a detail so vulgar, yet so casual, that I felt physically sick on several occasions. At one point very early in the book, Martin makes Turtle do pull-ups on a rafter whilst he holds a knife between her legs. It's not the first glimpse we get of the depravity of this father/daughter relationship, but it is perhaps the first passage where you get a real sense of how the characters tick and what drives them.
Turtle's relationships and interactions with others, in particular her feelings about other women, are fascinating to read, whilst moments of much-needed humour come from Jacob and Brett, two boys Turtle befriends when they get lost out hiking.
The plot is incredibly well the plot is threaded together. The drama and the relief come in waves. Turtle exists in circumstances the reader can hardly bear to acknowledge, and she exists there convincingly, earning her that badge of modern heroine which she so rightly deserves.
I won't go on, I'd simply urge you to read it, and before they make it into a film, which is inevitable.
In other news, I've been lucky enough to receive a beautiful new laptop as a gift, since my old one was so close to death that I could no longer write on it. Which brings me to my next thing; I am back in the writing zone. The Post-Its and mood boards are out and I'm workshopping characters for something entirely new, which is making me both excited and nervous. I find the early stages of writing anything are almost an act, until writing proper sets in and things flow. It all feels a bit contrived and new, but I really love creating worlds and characters. Hammering out the major bones of the plot will be a long process but one which I hope will leave me feeling as enthused as I do now.
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