CULTURE EDITION Book Club Gripping new reads to fill your shelves, plus top tech tips for book lovers Words CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
ABI DARÉ AND SO I ROAR Abi Daré is back with an extraordinary novel about friendship, sisterhood, courage and secrets. This book once again stars the unforgettable Adunni and Ms Tia from Abi’s debut The Girl With The Louding Voice , but now it’s Ms Tia who is journeying to 15-year-old Adunni’s world, a year on from the events of the first book which saw Adunni go on the run in the hope of finally getting the education she deserves. After overhearing a mysterious fragment of conversation between her mother and her aunt, Tia is slowly uncovering the truth about her own past, while simultaneously trying to free Adunni from the clutches of societal expectations and brutal tradition. Adunni’s village has caught up with her and she must return to clear her name, alongside a small group of other young women judged to have caused bad luck: the leaders speak of girls being sacrificed to bring the rain, but do they mean symbolically, or is this a more sinister ritual? The novel’s narration jumps between the two main characters but also gives voice to a whole host of other female perspectives, tackling some of the biggest issues facing women and girls around the world, particularly in less advantaged countries – but it’s also lighthearted and filled with joyful moments. Abi’s compelling and brilliantly descriptive prose has a vital immediacy which is touching in the thoughtful moments, but terrifying in tenser times, and the book’s dramatic conclusion will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. You don’t necessarily need to have read Abi’s first novel to enjoy this, but why deny yourself more time in Adunni’s presence? Abi’s compelling and descriptive prose has a vital immediacy
This short but viscerally powerful book lets us follow Soldier, a new mother, as she adjusts to life with Sailor, her baby boy. She gives us a glimpse at the withering mental load of raising a baby, talking to Sailor about her decisions, the endless tasks driven by the unfathomable love of a parent for their child: she shares her loneliness, her bone- aching frustration with her husband, the iron-cast realisation that if she doesn’t do a particular task for Sailor, no one will. The book feels like a peek SOLDIER SAILOR CLAIRE KILROY
behind the curtain of motherhood. Claire’s stark but emotive prose gives you the full force of Sailor going missing in Ikea, or frantically Googling symptoms while he burns with a midnight fever, and her whole- body yearning for what once was, yet never wanting to give up what she has now; the learning curve is a vertical cliff face that she has to climb. A stunning, shocking and haunting read on those bewildering first few months as a parent: part essay, part poem, entirely unforgettable.
18 SEPTEMBER 2024 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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