If she chucked herself into that brown river..all that would happen would be a line or two in the local rag"
By sally tarbox on 28 January 2018
Format: Hardcover
Published in 1976, this short (107p) novel follows a nameless London wife and mother-of-three; with a rough and ready husband, and three demanding offspring - a critical pre-reen, a baby in nappies and a middle one with learning difficulties - the mother retreats into a world of anti-depressants and dreams; classical music and art, so far removed from her dingy, cash-strapped life in a condemned house, as the family await their move to a high-rise...

And then into their life comes Edward, a journalist from a privileged background, who sees them as material for his writing. While the sections on the mother are related in the 3rd person, we glimpse Edward's true thoughts in the snippets of his journals whiich intercut the text - a combination of pity, affection, exasperation and desire...

Conjures up a time and a place quite vividly; and the helpless, hopeless feelings of someone stuck in a world she doesn't like. ( )