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The Child Inside by Suzanne Bugler (view source)
Revision as of 12:49, 26 January 2012
, 12:49, 26 January 2012no edit summary
Rachel Morgan feels that she does not fit in anywhere. Certainly not with all of the other mums at her son Jono's posh school. Certainly not with all the happy jolly families on the beaches when they are on holiday. And most of all, she no longer feels that she fits in with her own little family. Nothing ever feels right and she continually feels isolated on the outside looking in. Of course, these feelings lead to an increasing sense of dissatisfaction which she can only deal with by dwelling on what she perceives as her happier past.
Rachel starts obsessing about an old friend from her school days who tragically died at the age of fifteen. Her memories are evoked further when she thinks that she spots the friend's mother in a local café. Unfortunately, the mother, still wrapped up in her own grief and denial, does not want to acknowledge the past. Undeterred though, Rachel then decides to track down her friend's brother, Simon. He, in contrast, is desperate to talk about his lost sister and through meeting with him, Rachel starts to feel like another person. However, one thing leads to an another and the pair embark on an affair that at first is thrilling and exciting. Can it last though? And what of Andrew and Jono? What about their feelings too?
I really did enjoy this book even though I found it a bit slow to start with. It tended to ramble a little, although in an interesting way, as the gaps were filled in about Rachel's sad past. However, the pace in the second half of the book really quickens, and by the end I hardly wanted to put it down as I could not wait to find out how it all turned out in the end. I wouldn't really call it a happy book especially as the main character is so miserable for the majority of the book. However, I felt that the entire book presented an astute observation of human behaviour and I found Rachel's sense of isolation very moving.