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The Stealing
Ruth sees an apparently abandoned child gazing at a swinging toy monkey in a shop window. She has faced her own abandonment. What will she do? We journey with her from darkness to light through her redemptive, healing love for her son, Matthew, her husband Mark, her step-daughter Emmie. All is not quite what it seems though; she has a past which haunts her, Matthew has a past, Mark has a past, even little Emmie has a past… Shattering of childhood innocence pervades the narrative . It is about what was known, when and how, what knowledge is knowable when and how, what knowledge should be knowable when and how. Clowns appear and distort the vision with their tragi-comedic ways. Tension builds, will Ruth’s past catch up with her? And are you the reader complicit in past, present and future?
260 pages, Paperback
Published June 9, 2017
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 5, 2024
I read this author's other book The Lifeboatman's Daughter some time ago, and to be honest I couldn't stop thinking about it. It helped that I also watched a terrific television series dedicated to the work of the lifeboats in the UK. It must be terrifying sometimes, but oh my goodness, the lives they save.
It's taken me three years, but now onto The Stealing. Due to the actual storyline, I don't think I can drop any clues about this book without spoilers. It truly is a unique story, one that is shocking in parts and really makes you think hard. I also appreciated the references to What Maisie Knew by Henry James, because I also read that a few years ago.
Boiled down, it's about families, and how love can help heal the fractures and dysfunctions in some families, and point them towards a better future.
At times the author curiously breaks the fourth wall and asks questions of us, the reader, which is quite unusual. There are hints of foreboding from the future which made me think something dreadful is going to happen at some time, but it didn't come to pass during this book.
At the end of the day, the question remains of the reader: What would you do?
It's taken me three years, but now onto The Stealing. Due to the actual storyline, I don't think I can drop any clues about this book without spoilers. It truly is a unique story, one that is shocking in parts and really makes you think hard. I also appreciated the references to What Maisie Knew by Henry James, because I also read that a few years ago.
Boiled down, it's about families, and how love can help heal the fractures and dysfunctions in some families, and point them towards a better future.
At times the author curiously breaks the fourth wall and asks questions of us, the reader, which is quite unusual. There are hints of foreboding from the future which made me think something dreadful is going to happen at some time, but it didn't come to pass during this book.
At the end of the day, the question remains of the reader: What would you do?
Displaying 1 of 1 review