Girl Reading by Katie Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m trying to compile my thoughts about this book in my head. It’s not happening because I’m overcome, overcome at each individual story and the beautiful writing. And, I need to mention the complex characters and their relationships with other people in the story, whether or not physically absent (I’m thinking of Maria and Frances). Yes, I adored this book.

I loved the writing because it was unique, and brave, especially for a debut novel. I loved the fact that there weren’t any speech marks. Let me tell you it did take quite a long time for me to get used to it, but in the end I loved it. I felt like I was more there. It had the strange feeling, despite the third person narrative, that I was in that person’s mind, whether it was Maria, Gwen, Laura, Jeannie, Flossie or Rosie. Maybe it could be cheesy-ily said that I felt a certain connection with these women and girls in these stories. I think the characters I ‘connected’ with the most were Gwen, the twins, Jeannie and Esther.

My favourite stories were the Featherstone of Piccadilly and Unknown.


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