Rachael Preston

Starts off okay, but the final third was not great at all. The characters are caricatures, though sometimes they're not sure which caricature (like the grandmother, who swings from cantankerous bitch to doting granny in a flash). There's no real story arc, the characters don't really grow or learn. The two kids act both younger and older than their given ages, depending on what the author needs them to be in the scene. The father is un-redeemable and serves no purpose except spoiler of everyone else's happiness. (Same with most of the bullies in the book, as well as the two thugs Egypt sometimes falls in with. What was the point of Joey?) I read the book under the impression that it was a good illustration of what life might have been like in that specific community, but I feel like it was a story from some other book forced to fit into this context for the purpose of some grant. The local references felt like "name-dropping" more than providing setting and context. Also, it felt like the author tried to fit in as many horrible life experiences as possible. I did not get a sense of the place.
Dialogue was not realistic but slipped into cliche, narration and plot were chopping, and the story just didn't keep my attention. I didn't care for any of the characters.
Take a pass on this one and read [b:The People and the Bay: A Social and Environmental History of Hamilton Harbour|26597855|The People and the Bay A Social and Environmental History of Hamilton Harbour|Nancy B Bouchier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461534382l/26597855._SX50_.jpg|46637608] instead. Even though it's non-fiction, it is much more engaging.… (més)

Preston has mixed the right combination of historical and coming-of-age novel together here. Her words are vivid – not only in describing scenes but also in expressing emotions of her characters. There is at times a clear feeling between what a character is feeling and the reader experiencing it themselves. This is a book that should be read at leisure – not to be raced through- in order to appreciate the carefully chosen words and phrases that Preston has used.

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