My Life on Fire by Cath Howe
| My Life on Fire by Cath Howe | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Really wonderful characterisation in this moving, funny story that catches your attention right from the start, and stays with you after you've finished. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 272 | Date: April 2023 |
| Publisher: Nosy Crow | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781839942839 | |
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Ren's family home is destroyed in a fire. She, her parents, and her little brother lose everything. She doesn't have any of her clothes, or any of her special little knick-knacks from her cupboard, and now she is living at her grandmother's house where they can't touch anything, or do anything, or even eat the foods they normally eat. When she goes back to school she discovers that the class are doing a special art project, creating boxes of their lives, to display things that are important to them and show who they are as a person. But Ren has nothing to put in a box, and so she finds herself starting to steal things. Small things, things that people might not really miss, not when they have so much already. But what will happen to her if someone finds out what she is doing?
I thought this was a really interesting idea for a story, and something new that I hadn't read before. Childhood belongings can be very precious. I moved a lot as a child and during one move lots of my things went into storage whilst we lived in rented accommodation for almost a year, and I really missed my little bits and pieces, my precious books, and the toys I'd had to pack away. So I felt Ren's pain at losing all her special things. At least I knew I would get my things back again eventually. You really feel for Ren, spending time in a B&B with nothing at all, not even her own clothes, whilst her parents are clearly incredibly stressed and her little brother doesn't fully understand what's going on.
The fraught relationships are really well drawn, and this continues as the children move into Ren's grandmother's house and Ren's parents live in a campervan on the driveway. Life becomes smaller and smaller for Ren, as her grandmother doesn't want them messing up her house, breaking her things and causing trouble. And so the pressure on her builds and builds until she discovers a new way to cope with how she is feeling by stealing things from others at school. She finds a thrill in the thefts, a skill that she didn't know she had, and a pile of excuses and reasons why it doesn't matter and she isn't hurting anyone. I liked Ren a lot, and I felt her character is really well drawn because you know as a reader that she is doing things she really shouldn't be doing, and yet you understand completely why she is behaving in this way.
The story is not just Ren's however, as it's told from two points of view and so it is also about Caspar, a boy in Ren's class. I loved Caspar's character, with his neurodivergence apparent but never laboured over. He is full of questions (you feel for his poor teacher!) and full of kindness. I enjoyed seeing his developing friendship with Ren and her brother, and the book becomes a real page-turner as the tension builds over Ren's kleptomania and what happens when Caspar discovers the truth. The resolution is really beautifully, sensitively written.
Having the two viewpoints allows you to understand both how Ren is feeling, and why she is doing what she is doing, but also how others are reacting to the thefts and the impact it is having on everyone involved. The characters are very realistic, and you care about them more and more as the story progresses. The reveal of Ren's grandmother's true character towards the end is deftly done, and I loved the display of how people are complicated, and never really all good or all bad.
It is sad at times, but there's a lot of humour in the story too, usually around Caspar and the things he is saying. The characters really lived inside my head as I read and I found myself thinking of both Ren and Caspar often, even after I had finished their story. This is an excellent book, and definitely one I would recommend!
You might also enjoy this story from the same author: Not My Fault.
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You can read more book reviews or buy My Life on Fire by Cath Howe at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My Life on Fire by Cath Howe at Amazon.com.
Check prices, read reviews or buy from Waterstones. Waterstones currently charges from £2.75 for orders under £20, over which delivery is free. You may also click and collect from a Waterstones bookshop at no charge.
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