Earlier in the year whilst in lockdown I caught an interview with
Nancy Tucker talking about her debut fiction book titled The First Day of
Spring and she caught my attention immediately when she told us the synopsis it
sounded sinister and shocking and was certainly an original concept for me, it
sounded like it was going to be an explosive and gripping novel.
Chrissie knows
how to steal sweets from the shop without getting caught, the best hiding place
for hide-and-seek, the perfect wall for handstands.
Now she has a new secret. It gives her a fizzing,
sherbet feeling in her belly. She doesn't get to feel power like this at home,
where food is scarce and attention scarcer.
Fifteen years later, Julia is trying to mother her
five-year-old daughter, Molly. She is always worried - about affording food and
school shoes, about what the other mothers think of her. Most of all she
worries that the social services are about to take Molly away.
That's when the phone calls begin, which Julia is
too afraid to answer, because it's clear the caller knows the truth about what
happened all those years ago.
And it's time to face the truth: is forgiveness
and redemption ever possible for someone who has killed?
Well what can I say….. I am still disturbed how troubled our main
character little Chrissie is. The opening of the book certainly gets off to an
eventful and shocking start, no wasting time just grab the reader and pull them
straight in! I did find at one point early on in the novel where I put the book
down and I was unsure if I was going to pick it back up, not because of poor writing
or attention wavering it was more like that moment when you drive past a car
crash and you know it is horrific and shouldn’t look but you can’t help
yourself and so yes I picked the book back up and was unable to put it back
down!
The author isn’t afraid to get gritty in this novel and it was scary
to see how an unloved and neglected child’s mind can turn and to see what they
are truly capable of. We always think of children as innocents who are not capable
of certain things but this book explores the unthinkable and I can safely say
Chrissie is not a character I will ever forget she has left a little scar on my
mind.
The storyline alternates between the child’s voice of Chrissie and
the adult voice of Julia and this worked perfectly for this storyline as we
really manage to get into their minds and see their true thoughts and feelings.
At times I found myself feeling sorry for Chrissie’s character as the awful
upbringing she had was unbearable and something no child should have to endure but
there was still that part of me that had to remember what she had done and the devastation
that she has caused.
This debut is incredibly well written and brave covering disturbing
events which are delivered in great intense detail it makes it all feel way too
real. If you are looking for a sinister, dark twisted novel that will grip you
and leave its mark then this book will not disappoint. I think I need to watch Finding
Nemo now to sooth my troubled and tense mind!
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