'A Kind of Intimacy'

I just finished reading Jenn Ashworth’s novel,‘A Kind of Intimacy’, and it’s a book which I think is going to stay with me.

The novel is told in the first person by Annie, whom we first meet as she moves, with her cat, Mr Tips, into her new home in Fleetwood, Lancashire, to start afresh following - what? A nasty divorce? An escape from an abusive relationship? A personal tragedy? At first, both to the reader, and to Annie’s unfortunate new neighbours, Annie appears naive, vulnerable, clearly clumsy (both socially and physically) but hopeful, and trying to better herself. She is not the most attractive character, but in her clumsy efforts to broaden her own horizons, and to move forward, she initially attracts sympathy, not fear.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about Annie’s past, and present, the dissonance between Annie’s interpretation of events, and the reader’s understanding of them becomes greater and more disturbing, but without Annie’s voice ever becoming lost, and without the reader ever completely losing a sense of her as a person.

The book has it’s darkly comic moments, and many more where all but the most self-confident reader will have an uncomfortable sense of familiarity.

A gripping, if not altogether comfortable read.

Full disclosure: I received this book free as a review copy, and I’d very glad I did, as I doubt I would have picked it out otherwise, which would have been my loss.

Just - don’t give it to your new neighbour as a welcome gift. . . .

Aaaand the winner is. . . . .

OK, I said I'd pick who got the free book on Saturday morning, and now it is evening.

So, I got Tybalt to pick, (By having me put your names on pieces of paper, screw them up and throw them for him to chase. The winner is the first he ate!)

So, Sally, a copy of The Triangle for you. Can you e-mail or DM me your address?

Book Give-away!!

As a result of going to Amanda Palmer's gig, and blogging and posting pictures of it, I found the blog of Rashbre, at Rashbre Central (Or to be stictly honest, Rashbe commented on one of my pictures, and finding the blog was pretty easy from there!)

As it turns out, Rashbre has written a novel, The Triangle, which has just been published.
Rashbre has kindly sent me a couple of copies, so it seems only fair to pass one on to one of you.

So, here's the plan. Today is Wenesday. If you would like a shiny new book, leave a comment, telling me why you want a copy of the Triangle. On Saturday morning I will pick one of you (maybe at random, maybe based on the wit and artistry of your comment, who can say?), and send you the book.

All I would ask is that if you get the book, that you post a review of it somewhere (your blog, amazon, Goodreads, whichever you prefer)

So, what are you waiting for? GO!

[And if you don't win, you can always order a copy...]