Mud

by Emily Thomas

It's 1979, and thirteen-year-old Lydia has no idea how she'll cope when her dad announces that the family has to sell up and move onto a Thames sailing barge in Essex. With his girlfriend. And her three kids.
Between trying to keep her clothes dry in a leaky cabin, disastrous hair-dye attempts, awkward encounters with local boys, and coping with her suddenly enormous and troublesome family, Lydia fears she'll sink rather than swim . . .
At turns heartbreaking and uplifting, through Lydia's innocent and perceptive voice we find out that while the mud may stick, the tide can turn - and in unexpected and joyful ways.

Genres: Young Adult

416 pages, Paperback

Published July 5, 2018

About the author

Emily Thomas was born in London, and has lived there most of her life – except between the ages of 13 and 18 when she lived in Maldon in Essex on board a Thames Sailing Barge, with her family of seven assorted siblings and stepsiblings and two warring cats. Emily also works as an editor of many different kinds of books, including children’s and young adult fiction. She now lives in Brixton, with no pets and a lot of books.

Reviews

[Nicola Penfold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always wary of I Capture the Castle comparisons, but they completely stand up here. Thirteen year old Lydia has all the wit and feeling of Cassandra Mortmain, as she recounts her family's move onto Lady Beatrice, an old Thames Barge. But the entire cast of this novel comes to life: the large, extended family - four siblings, three step siblings, Lydia's stepmum and her brilliant but depressed father, struggling with alcohol dependence and depression; best friends, mean friends, potential boyfriends. It could all be heavy and hard going, but it never is - Lydia's clever commentary and observations make it sparkle. It made me nostalgic for Woolworths and Holly Hobbie and Post Office savings accounts and spray on hair dyes. This is coming of age at its best - the same effortless sort of writing you get in Adrian Mole. It's hilarious and heartbreaking and I recommend it to teens and adults everywhere!

[Janneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

'In the meantime, read a lot of books. They're very useful when you're miserable.'

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for several reasons

firstly the circumstances the main character finds myself is are completely mad and I was fascinated by it all.

secondly it reminded me of Adrian Mole being set in the same sort of time period and being in diary form. I enjoyed the pure nostalgia throughout

[Rach (pagesofpiper) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book even though I've given it two stars. It's about a girl who's father marries another woman with children and they end up living on a boat. It was set in the late 70's/80's, the technology was interesting, having to ring family from the pub because they didn't have a phone and communicating with family far away through postcards and letters. There were so many children in this it was very hard to keep up.

A few things weren't addressed at the end e.g. the older sister's eating disorder or was Lydia dyslexic/special needs? Or wrapped up so quickly, the younger sister being bullied for half a book and then it gets sorted straight away.

The plot was very slow, it really dragged in middle sections.

I really liked the friendship of the main character and her new friend at school, and also the relationships between the members of the families.

Overall interesting concept, I enjoyed the characters but not the plot. Read because it's on the Carnegie 2019 longlist.

[Jenna Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and touching story about a 13 year old and her eccentric family. After her father loses all their money, the whole family has to move into a barge along with her father’s girlfriend and her kids.

Lydia is a great central character, and I really enjoyed the narration from her point of view. Her ages means she is still treated like a little kid, but she understands much more than they think. The rest of the family are all so different, which makes for some tense and funny moments as they all try to live in such a small (and leaky) space.

[Meg Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this. Lydia is such a character, and so human, and honestly this book is the most fun I've had reading in a long time. Full review to come, when I can articulate just how much I loved this.

[Amena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Lydia. A smart, witty, perceptive 13 year old. Once you meet her, you wish she was YOUR sensitive and wise friend. Lydia's mother has died and her father has money trouble, so he decides the family, including her brothers and sister, as well as his new partner and her children, are all going to live on a boat.

A complex adult world is broken down from the perspective of a young adult. I loved every character. One minute I was chuckling to myself, the next my mind was thinking about how people leave and nothing is really permanent. To top it all off, they listen to Radio 4 as a family. I mean, seriously. What isn't there to love in a book you are eager to pick up to read once you are settled in the evening, whose characters you think about during the day, that makes you gasp as you recognise a feeling or detail? Lydia is a survivor and her sharp and observant nature will have you reminiscening of your own adolescent years. Living on a boat has never appealed to me but this book has me running in the opposite direction should anyone dare suggest it!
Rating - 5🌟

[Matthew McDonnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realise that this was a young adult book when I picked this up but I still got enjoyment out of it's and it was super easy to read through on account of its target audience. I thought this book was enjoyable enough for what it was, the characters were all flawed in their own ways and as a result they were all sympathetic and likable. However I bought this book expecting there to be more of a nautical aspect to it. Yes the family live on the boat but they only ever leave the docks twice in the whole book. The focus is definitely more on the family dynamic which is done well. Overall I'd say if you want some easy to read with likeable characters and an interesting setting, you could do worse than this.

[Ramona · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book had an excellent start. Our main character, Lydia is at once a very likeable person. We can feel her pain as her father announces all the changes she has to go through. Leaving her home to live in a 'lovely old Thames Barge'. An old boat, with many problems, is not appealing at all, nor is the fact that her father is introducing his girlfriend and her children into the mix. I have to say as children's librarian, that although this book is fairly good, it is a very long read, and in some places does not hold your interest. I struggled towards the middle and think it is a little long- drawn out to really hold you to the end.

[Suzanne Bhargava · Rating 4 out of 5]

People keep comparing Mud to I Capture the Castle, and it’s referenced in the book. Mud has been a wonderful read, so now I think I may have to read I Capture the Castle too!

I’d recommend this book to children aged 12+, but my 9 year old read it before I did, and now I’m wondering if he should have! I asked him about it though, and he assured me it wasn’t a problem, and no he didn’t feel like he needed to talk it through... what he really loved about the story most of all was the setting. In Mud, Lydia’s experience of living on a boat on the Thames was awful. And yet, my boy has come away from it having made the decision that when he’s grown up, he will live on a boat. Nuts.

[Rustybooklove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and was taken back to teenage years of adoring the Adrian Mole books; it was a world that was common to me but would instil shock in to some readers (not having a phone available.....how would we cope now?).  I loved Lydia's new found best mate; her character made me laugh out loud.  The beginning and end of the book were gripping; I just felt I got a little lost in the middle.  There were parts of the story that were unresolved at the end but I am afraid that is real life and yes sometimes real life can by very muddy.  Give this book a chance whether you fit in to the age category or not.

[Graine Milner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky main character Lydia was fun to read about and I did sympathise with her many predicaments. The book took a darker turn as it went on and Lydia's problems really did become quite awful. Quite a large cast of characters that I occasionally found tricky to keep tidy in my head - there were a lot of children living on the barge, and many supporting roles. Overall I enjoyed this - sort of 'I capture the castle' meets Tracy Beaker.
Readers who liked Susin Nielsen's No fixed address will probably fin dmuch to enjoy here.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily, her family and step-family end up living on a boat - a Thames barge.
Dad is fighting his demons - mostly unsuccessfully, after the death of his wife. He has remarried, but dad's drinking means that his second wife and step-family leave him.
The story is told through Emily's diary - full of teen angst as well as coping with bereavement and her father's alcoholism.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a selection in my book club and I just couldn't get into it. It just seemed like an outlandish premise and I wasn't able to "bond" with any of the characters. Had it not been for the fact that someone was borrowing the book when I finished it, I probably never would've read it in its entirety.

[Ronnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was slow and sometimes frustrating, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected considering I usually stick to sci-fi and fantasy. The main character, Lydia, is endearing. The setting and cast of characters are interesting.

[Lisa Friel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as it is set locally, but not sure why it is set at the end of the 1970s/early 1980s as this time will mean little to its target audience ....?

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It's sensitively portrayed a believable and tumultuous times in a teenagers life.

[Zoe Antoniades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent memoir - one of those books you really miss once it's over

I can very much relate to this as I have also written a memoir about my dysfunctional family life in the the 1980s

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a touching yet funny story. I’m actually going to miss Lydia!

[Elizabeth Grieve · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up as the poor grammar was distracting.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ebook copy of this novel from Net Galley and Penguin Random House UK.
I absolutely loved this novel! Honestly, I thought the blurb sounded good, but I had no idea just how much I would love it, and how much it would speak to me!
This novel is narrated by Lydia, a 13 year old who is dealing with her dad remarrying and both families moving onto a barge on the Thames. Set in the 80s, Lydia has to deal with a new family and a new school, and the perils of being a teenager.
Lydia is one of the best narrators and one of the best characters I have read in a YA novel in years. She is smart and sensitive and funny. She seems so mature for her age at times, but also so naive, and this duality is so beautifully displayed by the author, Lydia is a character you root for from the very first page. She struggled with her self-esteem at times, and all I wanted was to give her a pep talk about how awesome she was, and how she could do anything she set her mind to.
I actually really loved all the characters in this novel, I love novels with big families, and Lydia's were so fun and crazy, even if her Dad was really annoying and disappointing at times.
The plot is crazy at times, some of the things the characters have to deal with are quite extreme, but the plot zips along quickly, and the dialogue between characters is smart and funny.
This novel deals with some difficult topics including bereavement and alcoholism, but they are sensitively and confidently written by the author, and I actually think this novel would be perfect for those children around 11/12+ as well as those in the teenage zone.
The novel is overall one of hope and love, and I honestly think it's a novel everyone should read. It has a real Enid Blyton feel to it, and I really think it stands beside her work proudly.
Seriously I cannot recommend this novel enough, a perfect read for both mature children/teens and adults alike, with one of the best and most loveable main characters/narrators I have read in a long time.

[Bookish.Issy · Rating 2 out of 5]

3.5 - it was a fun read. I think this is meant to be for 11-15 years old, but it was set in 1979-1981, so some of the references to that time (e.g Safeway) the reader would not understand. Also some of the things that happen I wouldn't want a young person to read. I enjoyed it, but at times I felt a bit old reading about a teenagers life and then sometimes felt too young to understand the old references. I think it's semi autobiographical, so perhaps that why it was set during that period.

[Alexis ksaifi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly didnt like this book. At the beginning I was already confused. Who's children are who's? Wait, which person is this again? etcetera. It took me a while to read this beacause i honestly didn't want to.

[Rat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this exquisite book. I feel no need to say anymore other than, read it. I savoured every word.

[BrookesEducationLibrarian]

Available for loan in the SEC at Harcourt Hill Library :)