Simon Henry > Recent Status Updates

O'Brien is a bit smug about how well he dismantles the daft, ill-conceived and thoughtless (genuinely thoughtless) arguments of the people who confidently call his radio phone-in to make their point to a wide audience.
But then he is good at it.
However, I would rather judge how good he is for myself, instead of him keep telling me.

O'Brien is a bit smug about how well he dismantles the daft, ill-conceived and thoughtless (genuinely thoughtless) arguments of the people who confidently call his radio phone-in to make their point to a wide audience.
But then he is good at it.
However, I would rather judge how good he is for myself, instead of him keep telling me.

"We're 1 registrar down in antenatal clinic, so I'm sailing this shitshow alone. I saw 30 patients in morning clinic, which finished at 3pm, 2 hours after my afternoon clinic was meant to have started."
... "7p.m. and two patients from the finish line I have make an urgent psychiatric referral for someone who's had a relapse of severe anorexia nervosa at 30 weeks. And she's eaten more than I have today."

Very edgy subject matter, that tells us something about the writer's courage in tackling an uncomfortable topic.
Gail is a master of 'show, don't tell', as far as the deeper aspects of the story are concerned - there is an element of detective work for the reader to enjoy.
I think readers will also enjoy observing the main character's development across the time-span of the story.

Very edgy subject matter. Gail is a master of 'show, don't tell' as far as the deeper aspects of the story are concerned (of course, Gail 'tells' narrative, but the reader has to sieve what is significant from that which is mundane - like being a detective. I like the time-hops - I hope to learn something from Gail's handling of it for my own WIP.

Mitchell has the story-teller's knack. Wendy writes with a literary style that is easy on the eye and a remarkable level of detail, given the subject matter. She is holding back on answering the inevitable question: "If her memory is ill, how can she be writing about things from the past, both deep and recent?" It is an emotional read, especially as I have memory problems myself.

Mitchell has the story-teller's knack. So far, easy-to-read & straightforward.

I have finished the 'main story' and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ahlberg paints the characters so well that you get to know them very well and sympathise with them. Ahlberg clearly cherished that era of his childhood and playing football with the rough-and-ready team of classmates. A happy, entertaining yarn!

Mitchell has the story-teller's knack. So far, easy-to-read & straightforward.

My wife showed me this in the local library when our 10y.o. son declined to read it - the cover didn't 'grab' him apparently.
I'm nearer Ahlberg's age, so his reminiscences of childhood resonate with me. My son would have found it 'old fashioned' = not able to relate to it, so probably best it ended up in my hands.
After laughing out loud 3 times in the first couple of pages, I just had to take it home to continue!

So far, so good; was worried it would be over my head, but I'm OK with it so far!

The acknowledgements and intro are easy to read, so I'm hopeful!
I notice that my eldest son read it back in 2012.