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Head for the Edge, Keep Walking
A warm, gritty, out-loud funny tale about one thirty-something's life in free-fall, and the lessons learned in putting it back together.
Head for the Edge, Keep Walking absorbs you into the eccentric world of Jill Beech, whose friends are finally getting their lives together while hers is falling apart. Adrift at thirty-four, no-one does 'lost' quite like Jill. Wry, witty, resilient but bewildered, she's left asking, 'What does it take to stay sane in this life? And why does it look easier for everyone else?'
Her nine-year relationship is over. She swaps one so-so job for another. She gets drunk with off-beat friends and internet dates with mixed results... Then life is flipped on its head by some shocking news. But average 'chic fiction' this ain't!
There's nothing average about Jill and her distinctive, savagely honest voice; with sentences you'll want to read and re-read for their lyrical, original language and ringing clarity. An exploration of modern friendships and relationships, Jill's voice will penetrate and have you analysing your own life choices through her lens!
When events take Jill to the edge - will tip herself over or turn things around and keep walking?
Head for the Edge, Keep Walking absorbs you into the eccentric world of Jill Beech, whose friends are finally getting their lives together while hers is falling apart. Adrift at thirty-four, no-one does 'lost' quite like Jill. Wry, witty, resilient but bewildered, she's left asking, 'What does it take to stay sane in this life? And why does it look easier for everyone else?'
Her nine-year relationship is over. She swaps one so-so job for another. She gets drunk with off-beat friends and internet dates with mixed results... Then life is flipped on its head by some shocking news. But average 'chic fiction' this ain't!
There's nothing average about Jill and her distinctive, savagely honest voice; with sentences you'll want to read and re-read for their lyrical, original language and ringing clarity. An exploration of modern friendships and relationships, Jill's voice will penetrate and have you analysing your own life choices through her lens!
When events take Jill to the edge - will tip herself over or turn things around and keep walking?
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2014
2 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
About the author
Kate Tough
14 books59 followersKate Tough writes poetry and fiction rooted in realism, humour and sometimes difficult truths.
She creates astute observational detail in fiction, and explores painful and amusing moments that readers could recognise as themselves or their friends.
Her novel, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech, is the revised 2nd edition of Head for the Edge, Keep Walking. Her short fiction and poetry appear in journals such as, The Brooklyn Review, The Texas Review and The Found Poetry Review. Kate’s poetry pamphlet, tilt-shift, was Runner Up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, 2017.
Kate's been a literacy volunteer and creative writing tutor in many community settings.
www.katetough.com
She creates astute observational detail in fiction, and explores painful and amusing moments that readers could recognise as themselves or their friends.
Her novel, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech, is the revised 2nd edition of Head for the Edge, Keep Walking. Her short fiction and poetry appear in journals such as, The Brooklyn Review, The Texas Review and The Found Poetry Review. Kate’s poetry pamphlet, tilt-shift, was Runner Up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, 2017.
Kate's been a literacy volunteer and creative writing tutor in many community settings.
www.katetough.com
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 23, 2019
Head for the Edge, Keep Walking , I'm pleased to add is now coming out under a new title Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough.
The plot is still written within the same story. Set in Glasgow, with a new character name title as Rhona Beech, who seems rather lonely, getting up for work, spending the whole day there. Drinking until bedtime, waking up still wearing her coat.
This is my own opinion. I didn't find it hilarious on life about a angry woman, as it says about the book on the back cover. I took this book on a much serious note. I genuinely did feel sorry for Rhona., but funny no.
The back cover also referred to this book will appeal to fans of Maria Semple book Today Will Be Different, which I don't support that view. I think that this book is worth more as a standalone in its own status and not along side of any other author. It has my full recommendation.
The plot is still written within the same story. Set in Glasgow, with a new character name title as Rhona Beech, who seems rather lonely, getting up for work, spending the whole day there. Drinking until bedtime, waking up still wearing her coat.
This is my own opinion. I didn't find it hilarious on life about a angry woman, as it says about the book on the back cover. I took this book on a much serious note. I genuinely did feel sorry for Rhona., but funny no.
The back cover also referred to this book will appeal to fans of Maria Semple book Today Will Be Different, which I don't support that view. I think that this book is worth more as a standalone in its own status and not along side of any other author. It has my full recommendation.
March 22, 2017
I really, really, liked this book. It’s my favourite in this reading challenge so far. I think this is because it reflects so much for me: the anxiety caused by people expecting certain things from you as a woman coming up to a particular age; the mortality of the human race and how fragile life is; the difficulty of understanding what you want from life, and the ever-prominent subject of mental illness.
The writing is so very funny. It also has a really distinctive narrative voice. You get to know Jill almost right away. She isn’t perfect and neither is her life falling apart around her. She’s just trying to make sense of what it means to be her. Faced with a scary illness, romantic conquests, the challenges of a new job, a strained friendship and a ticking biological clock, Jill ticks all the boxes of your typical chick lit heroine.
But she is so much more than that. Because she makes decisions you don’t expect her to. She makes decisions she didn’t expect to make. The whole book takes you in what you think is one direction, and then soon you realise you’re actually going in a completely different one. It doesn’t make itself conform to the expected standard of following a particular narrative arc or structure. It doesn’t end how you expect it to end, but this makes it feel SO much more authentic. It’s not a bad ending; far from it. But when I finished it I thought, “You see now, that’s a lot more convincing in terms of true life.”
The book features some of the most unique and strongly developed characters I’ve seen in a while, which is great. Jill’s best friends are both hilarious and tragic. Each one is a mix of these things, so there are no one-dimensional characters, only interesting people that you love to get to know.
The story is matter-of-fact and true to life, but throughout the story is a series of really beautiful, poetic pieces of prose, peppered into the everyday-life narrative, that really gets to the heart of Jill as a vulnerable character. I also love that the book is told through a number of different formats, including postcards, letters, dream sequences, email and normal chronological prose.
The writing is so very funny. It also has a really distinctive narrative voice. You get to know Jill almost right away. She isn’t perfect and neither is her life falling apart around her. She’s just trying to make sense of what it means to be her. Faced with a scary illness, romantic conquests, the challenges of a new job, a strained friendship and a ticking biological clock, Jill ticks all the boxes of your typical chick lit heroine.
But she is so much more than that. Because she makes decisions you don’t expect her to. She makes decisions she didn’t expect to make. The whole book takes you in what you think is one direction, and then soon you realise you’re actually going in a completely different one. It doesn’t make itself conform to the expected standard of following a particular narrative arc or structure. It doesn’t end how you expect it to end, but this makes it feel SO much more authentic. It’s not a bad ending; far from it. But when I finished it I thought, “You see now, that’s a lot more convincing in terms of true life.”
The book features some of the most unique and strongly developed characters I’ve seen in a while, which is great. Jill’s best friends are both hilarious and tragic. Each one is a mix of these things, so there are no one-dimensional characters, only interesting people that you love to get to know.
The story is matter-of-fact and true to life, but throughout the story is a series of really beautiful, poetic pieces of prose, peppered into the everyday-life narrative, that really gets to the heart of Jill as a vulnerable character. I also love that the book is told through a number of different formats, including postcards, letters, dream sequences, email and normal chronological prose.
July 1, 2014
Lots of good things about this book. The main character was well rounded and interesting, and had an engaging voice which managed to be quirky without getting annoying. It was nice to see in fiction some things which are commonplace in women's lives but which you don't necessarily hear much about (smear tests, getting on in office life, internet dating - the latter not just played for laughs). I also got a real sense of Glasgow and in particular its unique characters and humour.
However there were several times when I was annoyed that the author jumped forward over the bits I was most interested in e.g. the main character's developing new relationship was fast forwarded while the reader spent a lot of time looking at the spires of the Glasgow skyline. And the whole section where the main character stopped talking after her cervical surgery was a bit perplexing - we got none of the character's interior life to let us see how she was thinking/feeling during this critical time. Her final decision that she doesn't want kids also seemed a bit rushed without particular insight into how she reached that point.
However there were several times when I was annoyed that the author jumped forward over the bits I was most interested in e.g. the main character's developing new relationship was fast forwarded while the reader spent a lot of time looking at the spires of the Glasgow skyline. And the whole section where the main character stopped talking after her cervical surgery was a bit perplexing - we got none of the character's interior life to let us see how she was thinking/feeling during this critical time. Her final decision that she doesn't want kids also seemed a bit rushed without particular insight into how she reached that point.
June 23, 2016
I can across this book a couple of years ago in a book shop. I didn't buy it but it stuck in my head as something I might like to read. Then last month it was one of Amazon's monthly deals so I thought why not.
And, what a result, I really enjoyed it. Funny and sad in equal measure, 'Head for the Edge, Keep Walking' is about a thirtysomething who feels stuck in her life whilst all of her friends' lives keep moving forward. Jill is not nearly as stuck as she'd like to believe and there is a real journey there even if is more about self realisation than physical adventure. Jill perfectly describes the isolation of what she's feeling and the way her friendships change feels completely natural. There are no good guys or bad guys in this, it's just about growing and changing but it manages to do that without ever being corny or overly sentimental. I'm hoping to read more by Kate Tough soon.
Also, a postscript, as someone who lives in Glasgow, I found this the perfect setting for this story.
And, what a result, I really enjoyed it. Funny and sad in equal measure, 'Head for the Edge, Keep Walking' is about a thirtysomething who feels stuck in her life whilst all of her friends' lives keep moving forward. Jill is not nearly as stuck as she'd like to believe and there is a real journey there even if is more about self realisation than physical adventure. Jill perfectly describes the isolation of what she's feeling and the way her friendships change feels completely natural. There are no good guys or bad guys in this, it's just about growing and changing but it manages to do that without ever being corny or overly sentimental. I'm hoping to read more by Kate Tough soon.
Also, a postscript, as someone who lives in Glasgow, I found this the perfect setting for this story.
May 18, 2014
This book kept me up till 1am, unable to put it down until the end. It starts gently enough, as we get to know Jill Beech, who is 'on the rebound' after her partner of 9 years has left her. Some funny moments, some poignant ones.
As the book progresses, the funny become hilarious, the sad almost unbearably so, and I found myself alternately crying with laughter and sympathy. By the end of last night I felt I'd lived through a year of a close friend's life.
As a lampoon of Internet dating, this will take some beating, and Kate Tough's handling of cervical cancer is sensitive and compelling. Fertility, depression and work-life balance are all central themes - much for a reading group to chew over.
But most of all, it's splendidly written and brilliantly paced. Read it, read it!
As the book progresses, the funny become hilarious, the sad almost unbearably so, and I found myself alternately crying with laughter and sympathy. By the end of last night I felt I'd lived through a year of a close friend's life.
As a lampoon of Internet dating, this will take some beating, and Kate Tough's handling of cervical cancer is sensitive and compelling. Fertility, depression and work-life balance are all central themes - much for a reading group to chew over.
But most of all, it's splendidly written and brilliantly paced. Read it, read it!
July 28, 2014
Not a book for the faint-hearted. If you are squeamish about finding out the precise details of how cervical cancer is treated, this is not the book for you. But that is not really the theme of the book, which is about surviving everything that life can throw at you. Jill, a gallus Glaswegian, has to deal with her relationship ending, then discovering that she has cervical cancer, enduring the treatment and then putting her life back together. (Okay, if you don't know the meaning of gallus and can't be bothered to look it up, then try a sassy Glaswegian).I am not going to spoil the book by telling you any more about the plot. It is worth noting however, that the writing is stylish and the words well-chosen. Give yourself a treat, and read this book.
April 21, 2015
A meditation on the agony of separation and the mess of recovering one’s self. We are led, realistically, to experience with Jill her everyday struggles with identity, purpose, friendship, love, mortality, womanhood. Narrated with a bold and credible voice, the pain is eased with natural, gentle humour. Jill is as complex, flawed, likeable and scornable as the rest of us, as are her friends. The experience ranges from the banal to the sublime, tense to expansive, mundane to poetic - resulting in the sense you have entered the real mind and life of Jill. It’s a tough ride at times, but authentic, thought-provoking and worthwhile.
December 30, 2015
Not my typical choice for reading material. Hubby had met the author on a plane and thought it would make a nice Christmas present. He was right. The story moves along at a nice pace with realistic depictions of relationships and the messiness that comes along with them. I appreciate a story that doesn't follow the standard "happily ever after" for the main character.
October 28, 2014
A fun read. Its a journey of love,loss and how to be happy with where you are in life. Sometimes life throws you curve balls, its how you deal with them that makes you what and who you are. This book makes you realize that sometimes there is no happy ending until you're happy with yourself.
November 8, 2014
Had a fab evening when the author attended our bookclub!
April 19, 2015
Bonus star for avoiding cliched ending.
September 1, 2020
There is an art to writing about everyday characters dealing with everyday life without the plot becoming mired in the mundane and this book struggles to achieve it. It doesn't entirely help that for a book so resolutely written in the first person, so much of the inner life of the protagonist is a blank space.
The blank personality yet excessively detailed actions were reminiscent of Morven Caller, but this book lacks the compelling central event and darkness that Morven Caller has. Nor does it have the warmth required to be sufficiently engaging as an uplifting read. A disappointment.
The blank personality yet excessively detailed actions were reminiscent of Morven Caller, but this book lacks the compelling central event and darkness that Morven Caller has. Nor does it have the warmth required to be sufficiently engaging as an uplifting read. A disappointment.
June 13, 2019
I loved this. Not the sort of thing I would normally pick up but was given it by a friend. Nicely observed, with some wonderfully dry humour and moments of poignancy, as well as a refreshingly spare and at times poetic prose style. I certainly look forward to reading more by this author.
April 30, 2019
Really well written, with some laugh out loud moments.
August 4, 2014
Written in 1st person, the author totally draws you in to the intense world of Jill Beech - you're in her head, spending time with her intimately as she negotiates the varied, complex relationships in her life.
The language and setting are pure Glasgow, the subject matter and characters are universal.
The language and setting are pure Glasgow, the subject matter and characters are universal.
July 15, 2015
Really enjoyable, moving and funny in equal measures. Her sharp eye for detail and way of portraying the highs and lows of female friendship is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's early works. Looking forward to reading more by Kate Tough.
June 20, 2014
Quite an engaging novel, though I would have liked the author to go a bit deeper considering the main character suffered from a breakdown. Overall a good light-ish read.
September 8, 2014
i was expecting it to be a little more light hearted, still worth a read though.
August 20, 2017
Good summer read.
August 21, 2015
Preferred the start to the end. Well written.
February 6, 2016
Good book, it took some time adjusting to the writing style and was a little slow at the beginning but had a strong ending. This book is worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews