I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I was
really taken aback by how hard-hitting this book was and how real it felt. At
the start I thought it would just be about a girl struggling to deal with the
death of her mother, but it was so much more than that. This book dealt with
loss, religion, family and life in such an amazingly beautiful way and if you
take anything from this review, it is that this book is one that you have to
read. You may not read it now, but read it at some point and be prepared for a plunge
into the murky depths of truth.
At the start of this novel I didn't realise that Shell was
in her mid-teens and I feel like Dowd really used a childish innocence in the
first few chapters to demonstrate how the loss of her mother had affected Shell.
She was supposed to have someone to guide her through an already difficult time
in life and that was taken away, leaving her alone and scared. As the novel
progressed we saw how the loss of her mother had affected her childhood as she
was forced into motherhood at a young age with her father not being a good
parent. The first part of the novel led me to understand that life would never
be 'easy' for Shell again and it makes me so thankfully that I know of so many
organisations today who would help people in her position.
The next thing that was dealt with in this novel was growing
up. We may find it quite awkward when our parents talk to us about 'the birds
and the bees' or buying products that are needed as a result of our changing
bodies, but if you suddenly take away those people who would have given you guidance
on such matters, you realise that even if it was awkward, it was important
having someone in the know talk through things like that. In Shell's case, she
had to rely on friends and strangers which can be quite daunting. Those
experiences only made me like Shell more though as it showed me that she wasn't
willing to stay in the dark, but also that she was afraid to ask for help because
she had no one to turn to first hand.
Shell's father's drinking is something that touches me
personally. I can relate her feelings of wanting to protect Trix and Jimmy,
wanting to leave her father in the dust for what he does to himself and wanting
to join him on a path of self destruction. Things like that are often described
as something that no child should ever have to experience, but in a way I
disagree. In no way do I think any child deserves to have an alcoholic parent,
but I think that it is important to not hide that part of their life as it
builds them into the person they are more than any other experience. In this
novel, her father's drinking was an excuse for her not to reveal her pregnancy,
her excuse to take some of his money, her excuse to hide away. While these
things weren't necessarily good for Shell at the time, they built her into the
person that told her father who the father of her child was and who discovered
what had really happened to Birdie. Each event leads onto another, like dominos
all lined up, and while that experience was a horrible one for Shell to deal
with, it is one that she can move past and that will improve her as a person in
later life.
Declan is someone that I would happily spit in the face of
if I ever met him. Even at such a young age, he used two girls and then left
them far worse off than he found them. It's a shame to know that people like
him actually exist and when Shell burned the letter from him I felt like
pumping my first in the air. (Good riddance!)
He caused the lives of two people who were supposed to be his friends to fall
into disarray and for them to grow estranged. For Shell's sake, I hope her next
romantic encounter doesn't have the same ending as this one. It also is worth bearing
in mind the consequences he knew he would bring upon them in a strict Catholic
village, especially with Shell's lack of an adult to turn to in a crisis. Declan
wasn't an idiot, he knew what would happen to Shell and Birdie, yet he did it
anyway, leaving them to deal with the mess he made.
Finally, I feel like I have to talk about religion in this
book as it was such an important factor. From the blurb of this book, I
expected Father Rose to be involved in some sexual scandal, and I guess he was
to some extent, but mainly he provided a window into religion for Shell. A lot
of people find God in other people and it was a, good, different thing to find
in a young adult novel, which don't normally deal with such subject matters. It
was also interesting to see how people's religions influenced them, from
Shell's father to the congregation who judged her.
All these themes came together beautifully in this book.
Hearing the stories that this book was based on and learning about Dowd has
really brought a new sense of realisation to me. There are a lot of things we
take for granted and a lot of things that we don't expect to happen, yet do.
The story in this book will stay with me for a long time and I am very grateful
for that.
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