I have read some of Susan Lewis’s earlier novels and this one felt different to me. The writing always takes hold and pulls you into the characters world, but this novel addresses so many contemporary social and political issues. It felt more like a world I could identify with; I have worked for over twenty years in mental health and I come up against these issues all the time. My client group is largely people with physical disabilities so the effects of the bedroom tax, PIP reforms, and now universal credit, have been a huge cause of depression and anxiety. It was great to see a contemporary novel tackle issues I feel so strongly about.
The novel opens with the shocking scene where Stephen is the victim of a vicious assault at the hands of a gang, including his own son. Liam left home after his drug addiction and friendships within a gang started to affect family life. It is an incident between Liam and his youngest son that leads to Steve being attacked and we meet Steve’s family in the aftermath of his death. Angie is missing Steve but trying to keep strong and hold her family together, despite everything going wrong financially. As well as the younger son the couple have a teenage daughter, Grace. The family have lived a life very dependent on Steve and the goodwill of his business mentor. Steve contracted as a painter and decorator, but worked mostly with one property developer. Through him the family rent a home on the best estate in town, at a low cost and with all the features Angie has wanted. But Steve does not have life insurance and without his income Angie can’t keep on top of the bills. The rent is increased and despite having Universal Credit Angie can’t stop the debt piling up. She has a part time job running a local charity that works with homeless people, but it doesn’t pay well. It also makes it more difficult for her to ask for help, because she is meant to be the one with the answers. As life becomes more desperate Angie tries to hide her situation from everyone. They lose the dream home, sell their possessions and end up with the children at her sister’s and Angie sleeping in her car. How will the family come back from this and will Angie’s relationship with her eldest child Liam ever recover?
Despite the familiarity with the subject matter I found Angie’s character difficult to connect with. I seemed to identify more with Grace, her daughter. As a therapist, I do a lot of self- reflection and I wondered if I identified with her because my parents struggled financially when I was a teenager. I know how hard it is to be different from your peers and unable to enjoy the same clothes and activities. Their bereavement and financial struggles have left Grace especially vulnerable; she is angry with her Mum but also wants to help and tries to find ways of making money. This is where unscrupulous people can come in and exploit her anger by inciting that need to rebel, and urge to take matters into her own hands. We get the sense that the mysterious texter who offers to help isn’t who she claims to be. I couldn’t help but be scared for her.
This is a good read and maybe an introduction to some readers as to how tough it is out there once you need the safety net of the benefit system. It wasn’t quite as gritty as I was expecting, but perhaps that says more about me than the book! I think it did show that everyone is only a couple of misfortunes away from being on the streets. We all push things like sorting life insurance to one side, without realising how catastrophic the consequences can be. The home truths of the title allude to Angie understanding the truth of her situation and the inner realisation of just how far we’ll go to look after the people we love most.
Thank you to Harper Fiction for my proof copy of this book and for letting me to join the blog tour. See below for the next stops on the tour.
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