Categories: book-review
Tags: book review
Date: 31 July 2008 21:33:05
This is the book that we read last month in my book group. It was my suggestion (having picked it up in the charity shop a while ago), but I really didn't know what to expect. I remember some people raving about it, and I saw that Trevor Huddlestone had written a very glowing Foreward, so I had high hopes.
It's the story (?fictional, ?true - we're never explicitly told) of a young runaway, Anna, who is taken in by Fynn (who at the time is 19-20ish) and his family in the East End of London in (I think) the late 1930s. The whole book is something of a voyage of discovery, with Anna figuring out life, the universe and everything, and thinking and talking about Mister God. I think there's supposed to be a kind of wisdom of babes vibe going on.
There were some things I liked about the book. When Anna was talking about seeing the world through different bits of coloured glass, and likening it to the different ways that God is seen/interpreted, that resonated very much with me. However, on the whole I have to say I found her really quite irritating. I think it was the constant pseudo-profundity - I think I could have coped with it a bit more if she was a teenager, but as a 5,6,7 year old it was just way OTT for me. I also got quite annoyed with Fynn, as he always seemed to portray himself as the dumb guy who was too slow for Anna and took ages to get what she saw in all its perfection in her childhood innocence. I would have liked him to have offered her a more robust challenge!
So, all in all it was a bit disappointing. But at least I can now say I've read it!