Joolz Denby

This novel takes the reader from Bradford in Yorkshire to southern Spain. We travel with a woman, Al, who is unhappy and depressed after the break-up of a relationship and the particularly heartless killing of her cat. She tells us about this relationship and her previous relationship with an inspiring poet. She decides to travel out to Spain to stay with her parents who are artists and living there and so the adventure begins. Al comes in to contact with a cult full of beautiful and charming people who live in a beautiful and charming villa on a hilltop. It all seems too good to be true and things get very weird.
This was a reasonable read but got somewhat over excited near the end as we blundered to the conclusion.… (més)

I like Joolz Denby's chatty, informal style to her writing and it is a contrast to more poetic novels that I find refreshing.
This novel seems to gently meander through life in a small Cornish village for sometime and seems pleasant, but not earth shattering. However, the action gathers a pace and ends fairly horrifically. She manages this quite well and develops the story in a way that feels about right.
The narrative is told by Astra, in her 20s and an all round good person and through her eyes we see all the other characters in the novel. She makes judgements on the other characters, that reflect back on her.… (més)

Narrated by the character of Billie Morgan herself, who at times feels so close that it's almost as if she's whispering in your ear. It's at these points when the writing is most effective, taking us on a trip that paints a dark picture of 70s Britain, full of drug abuse, bad council estates and people with depressingly wretched lives. I really liked the spiky character of Billie but she is definitely a flawed character (which she’s the first to admit). Not exactly a bundle of laughs and a rather sordid tale but an involving read none the less.
Very well written, very gripping.Sometimes felt that I was over-involved in the book! 4/5… (més)