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Crocodile
From the author of Fallow, winner of the Betty Trask Prize 2017
Shortlisted for The Encore Award 2019
She’s remembering curtains closed against whatever might harm them and all the knick-knacks: the porcelain fairy, the chain of rubber dolphins, CDs piled a metre high. This was what home meant.
It’s the summer before high school and Chloe’s been sent to her grandparents because her mother can’t cope. At first, all Chloe wants is to go home, but when she falls in with a feral gang of local boys, life takes a darker turn. By the time summer ends, Chloe will have learned where the greater danger lies.
Shortlisted for The Encore Award 2019
She’s remembering curtains closed against whatever might harm them and all the knick-knacks: the porcelain fairy, the chain of rubber dolphins, CDs piled a metre high. This was what home meant.
It’s the summer before high school and Chloe’s been sent to her grandparents because her mother can’t cope. At first, all Chloe wants is to go home, but when she falls in with a feral gang of local boys, life takes a darker turn. By the time summer ends, Chloe will have learned where the greater danger lies.
- GenresYoung Adult
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2018
5 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Shand
4 books17 followersDaniel Shand was born in Kirkcaldy in 1989 and currently lives in Edinburgh, where he is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and a Scottish literature tutor.
His shorter work has been published in a number of magazines and he has performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He won the University of Edinburgh Sloan Prize for fiction and the University of Dundee Creative Writing Award.
His shorter work has been published in a number of magazines and he has performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He won the University of Edinburgh Sloan Prize for fiction and the University of Dundee Creative Writing Award.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 30, 2018
Crocodile, by Daniel Shand, is a disturbing and utterly compelling tale of a preteen struggling to cope with her upbringing. The story opens as the girl, Chloe, is taken from the home she shares with her mother to stay for a while with her maternal grandparents. Unsure of what is happening, or why, she detaches herself from reality – a strategy she uses when her surrounds become too difficult to bear. Chloe’s mother, Angie, drinks heavily and often has men round to stay. Sometimes the girl is left home alone. Chloe has learned that it is better to deny feelings and never to say what she thinks.
The descriptions of the grandparents offer a picture of the elderly from a child’s perspective. This couple may not be regarded as particularly old in age by adults but close proximity to their wrinkles and aroma provide an unfamiliar experience for Chloe. She wants to return to her mother, whilst recognising that what they had was often hard to deal with. She places an imaginary camera above the scenes she is participating in and ponders if, in that moment, they could be perceived as a happy family.
When out shopping with her grandmother Chloe worries that she will be spotted by girls she knows and regarded as having no friends. When three local boys start to talk to her she is careful to lie about why she is here. It is clear from the conversations that the boys are equally eager to portray a false impression of their abilities and experiences. The group mess around and challenge each other. Chloe is horrified by some of the behaviours she finds she is capable of emulating.
The reader observes the adult world through the eyes of a child who is trying to understand what their life may become in the future. Chloe listens to others talk, watches how adults act when drinking and in company, remembers her mother. She practices what she will say before daring to speak, concerned about reactions. When thoughts become too difficult she puts great effort into smothering them.
The first part of the book offers a picture of a summer away from school, of burgeoning friendship and the dangers children present to each other in their quest for acceptance and admiration. The second part details what happens when Chloe is reunited with her mother. Angie seeks solace but can neither recognise nor accept when others care for her. This second section enables the reader to better understand Chloe’s demons.
The writing is stunning, intense and horrifying in its plausibility. At times there is more suggestion than detail but it still becomes clear how Angie and then Chloe have been treated. They long for the edited highlights of a happy family, yet family dislocation and denial is at the root of their distress. Each are offered potential lifelines they have little concept of how to grasp.
A well structured, multi layered, strikingly honest evocation of the damage caused by dysfunctional people and how this can impact those with whom they come into contact. Emotive and affecting whilst somehow retaining a chilling detachment, this is an impressive read.
The descriptions of the grandparents offer a picture of the elderly from a child’s perspective. This couple may not be regarded as particularly old in age by adults but close proximity to their wrinkles and aroma provide an unfamiliar experience for Chloe. She wants to return to her mother, whilst recognising that what they had was often hard to deal with. She places an imaginary camera above the scenes she is participating in and ponders if, in that moment, they could be perceived as a happy family.
When out shopping with her grandmother Chloe worries that she will be spotted by girls she knows and regarded as having no friends. When three local boys start to talk to her she is careful to lie about why she is here. It is clear from the conversations that the boys are equally eager to portray a false impression of their abilities and experiences. The group mess around and challenge each other. Chloe is horrified by some of the behaviours she finds she is capable of emulating.
The reader observes the adult world through the eyes of a child who is trying to understand what their life may become in the future. Chloe listens to others talk, watches how adults act when drinking and in company, remembers her mother. She practices what she will say before daring to speak, concerned about reactions. When thoughts become too difficult she puts great effort into smothering them.
The first part of the book offers a picture of a summer away from school, of burgeoning friendship and the dangers children present to each other in their quest for acceptance and admiration. The second part details what happens when Chloe is reunited with her mother. Angie seeks solace but can neither recognise nor accept when others care for her. This second section enables the reader to better understand Chloe’s demons.
The writing is stunning, intense and horrifying in its plausibility. At times there is more suggestion than detail but it still becomes clear how Angie and then Chloe have been treated. They long for the edited highlights of a happy family, yet family dislocation and denial is at the root of their distress. Each are offered potential lifelines they have little concept of how to grasp.
A well structured, multi layered, strikingly honest evocation of the damage caused by dysfunctional people and how this can impact those with whom they come into contact. Emotive and affecting whilst somehow retaining a chilling detachment, this is an impressive read.
May 18, 2019
Shortlisted for the 2019 Encore Award for Best second novel
https://rsliterature.org/2019/05/enco...
An uncomfortable coming of age story about an 11 year old girl sent to her grandparents for the summer while her mother “rests”. The question is what is more dangerous and disfunctional, the strange situations she find her self in with the relatives or the mental problems back with her mother. The psychological atmosphere of the book seemed very realistic and haunting.
https://rsliterature.org/2019/05/enco...
An uncomfortable coming of age story about an 11 year old girl sent to her grandparents for the summer while her mother “rests”. The question is what is more dangerous and disfunctional, the strange situations she find her self in with the relatives or the mental problems back with her mother. The psychological atmosphere of the book seemed very realistic and haunting.
November 29, 2018
A stunning and emotional coming of age tale which speaks to the impact dysfunctional families have on each other and future generations.
Full review to follow.
Full review to follow.
November 21, 2021
An unusual book that didn't quite pan out the way I thought it would. I liked it though. The characters were flawed and therefore very real. There were several bits where I had to reread it as I wasn't sure I'd fully understood who had said what it what had just happened, but it was worth the effort. I found it quite moving at the end.
November 26, 2018
Following on from the author's terrific debut, 'Fallow,' this book continues the trend and confirms him as one of the most exciting writers in Scotland at the moment. 'Crocodile' is told from the perspective of a young girl and my favourite moments were when Shand completely slips into her mind and lets you see the strange games and imagery in there, picturing herself floating above the action, setting up a camera to watch events later etc. The relationship between the girl and her mum is brilliantly realised, and brutally honest. Can't wait to read the next one.
December 13, 2022
Easy read, only took a day or so but the ending was unclear and not expected
November 5, 2020
Crocodile is the perfect summer read to be enjoyed under the shade of a tree or indoors listening to the downpour of rain.
A coming of age story during the summer before school starts. Chloe’s been sent to her grandparents because her mother can’t cope. She falls into a gang with local boys which leads to a dark turn and Chloe learning some deep life lessons.
I expected this to be quite a light hearted read but I was hit with a preteen struggling to deal with her uprbinging which lead to quite a gripping and intense read. It's always interesting reading books from a childs perspective and I think Shand delivered the narrative brillianty. It's quite hard hitting when the reader comes to realise why Chloe dissociates from her life and dreams of being part of a happy family. This book has moments of lightheartedness but the author reminds us of Chloe’s reality with harrowing detail.
A coming of age story during the summer before school starts. Chloe’s been sent to her grandparents because her mother can’t cope. She falls into a gang with local boys which leads to a dark turn and Chloe learning some deep life lessons.
I expected this to be quite a light hearted read but I was hit with a preteen struggling to deal with her uprbinging which lead to quite a gripping and intense read. It's always interesting reading books from a childs perspective and I think Shand delivered the narrative brillianty. It's quite hard hitting when the reader comes to realise why Chloe dissociates from her life and dreams of being part of a happy family. This book has moments of lightheartedness but the author reminds us of Chloe’s reality with harrowing detail.
January 24, 2019
This is a wonderful novel. The reader is taken on a childhood journey through the eyes of a young girl (or through the lens of the camera she see's herself through). This is a story about a child yearning for her mothers love, about friendship, about innocence and about the burden that abuse - emotional and physical - can have on an individual.
The relationship between the protagonist and the her friends is brilliant. The language, the vernacular, all make this novel as real as if you were right back to your own childhood, with words that I had long forgotten and which came back to me in laughter. I enjoyed the honesty of childhood, the realism of childhood relationships, the subtle way that situations are dealt with. I just loved it.
The relationship between the protagonist and the her friends is brilliant. The language, the vernacular, all make this novel as real as if you were right back to your own childhood, with words that I had long forgotten and which came back to me in laughter. I enjoyed the honesty of childhood, the realism of childhood relationships, the subtle way that situations are dealt with. I just loved it.
September 23, 2018
Daniel Shand writes from the perspective of a young girl in the last Summer before she starts high school - a challenging stylistic decision, yet achieved with a charismatic flair that I haven't read in a while. At first, I found the use of text and narration to mirror the unreliability and haphazard nature of childhood thought to be difficult, but after I'd become used to it, I found it was an excellent choice.
April 10, 2024
I bought this novel in a bookshop in Tobermory, Mull, as it was Scottish fiction. I had high hopes for it based on the blurb but unfortunately found it to be bland and forgettable. I don’t know if I just missed the point of the novel entirely but it felt like not much happened - the author danced around certain themes (like sexual abuse, addiction) but gave vague descriptions and ideas.
Some beautiful writing but overall just an ok read for me.
Some beautiful writing but overall just an ok read for me.
January 8, 2019
Loved this book, read it in a day. But it was painful, a real wrench at times. So much hurt and so much damage in the daughter caused by the mum who’s a victim herself. Beautifully and deceptively written - the layers are there if you want to see them.
December 24, 2018
Such a great book! I was moved to tears, felt sickened, experienced joy and nostalgia. This is one I will never forget.
August 5, 2025
oh a gut-wrenching look at generational trauma and what mothers pass on to their daughters
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews