Glasshopper, the deeply moving debut novel from Isabel Ashdown, was the winner of the Mail on Sunday Novel Competition in 2008. It is a very cleverly written book, focusing mainly on family life: the break-up and reconciliation of parents, the onset of adolescence for a thirteen year old boy, an older brother suddenly leaving home and a mother driven to alcoholism.
Life for Jake is turbulent to say the least. Not only does he have to deal with the usual trials and tribulations of teenage life, he has the burden of being the man of the house. His father had moved out just weeks before, and Jake awakes one morning to find Matthew, his older brother, has also left. Jake tries his best to look after his younger brother Andy and his alcoholic mother Mary, who goes through spells of deep depression making her bed-ridden for days.
He is also trying to hold down a Saturday job at a local shop so he can save up for a hi-fi, and his friendship with his boss Mr Horrocks proves valuable during tough times at home. As well as all this, Jake has school to contend with, in particular his favourite subject Classics with the pretty teacher Miss Terry.
Most of all, Jake looks forward to his weekly visits to his dad Billy. When his parents eventually reconcile, it seems like life is getting back on track. They go on holiday together in France, Jake's first holiday abroad, but it is there that some dark family secrets finally surface, leading to disastrous consequences.
The narrative is divided between the two main characters, Jake and his mother Mary. The chapters alternate between the two, with Jake's story spanning about a year of his life and Mary's beginning with her childhood in the 1950s, and moving through the years to the present day of the story, which is 1985.
Every so often, Jake will make a comment that reinforces in the reader's mind that this is a child speaking, from his scathing views of his seriously uncool younger brother to his helplessness at his mother's alcoholism. His descriptions are blunt and honest and typical of the way that a child views things, and this is apparent from the very first sentences of the first chapter. On the other hand, I found Mary to be intensely unlikeable at first, but as the story progresses, and the reader finds out more about her childhood and early adult life, I found it hard not to feel for her troubled character.
What I loved so much about the two narratives is how cleverly they are woven together, so that a seemingly unimportant detail of Mary's earlier life would suddenly make sense when the reader comes to Jake's next chapter. Jake's age means that sometimes he sees things in a different way to how an adult might and it is in this way that the author includes a couple of very clever twists to the story without making anything seem far-fetched.
It is hard not to feel the joy and pain of the characters. Every aspect of their personalities is described in a very realistic and human way, and the virtues and flaws of each character are included meaning no one is a saint and no one is a complete villain. Vivid but simple descriptions make it is easy to imagine the characters interacting together, and also envisage the places they frequent.
I really enjoyed reading this heartfelt novel, and flew through it in a matter of hours. Even though it is not action-packed, the characters are so engaging that I just couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Isabel Ashdown is a very talented writer, and I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on her next novel, Hurry Up and Wait, when it is released this summer.
*This review was initially written for Libri Populus.*
He is also trying to hold down a Saturday job at a local shop so he can save up for a hi-fi, and his friendship with his boss Mr Horrocks proves valuable during tough times at home. As well as all this, Jake has school to contend with, in particular his favourite subject Classics with the pretty teacher Miss Terry.
Most of all, Jake looks forward to his weekly visits to his dad Billy. When his parents eventually reconcile, it seems like life is getting back on track. They go on holiday together in France, Jake's first holiday abroad, but it is there that some dark family secrets finally surface, leading to disastrous consequences.
The narrative is divided between the two main characters, Jake and his mother Mary. The chapters alternate between the two, with Jake's story spanning about a year of his life and Mary's beginning with her childhood in the 1950s, and moving through the years to the present day of the story, which is 1985.
Every so often, Jake will make a comment that reinforces in the reader's mind that this is a child speaking, from his scathing views of his seriously uncool younger brother to his helplessness at his mother's alcoholism. His descriptions are blunt and honest and typical of the way that a child views things, and this is apparent from the very first sentences of the first chapter. On the other hand, I found Mary to be intensely unlikeable at first, but as the story progresses, and the reader finds out more about her childhood and early adult life, I found it hard not to feel for her troubled character.
What I loved so much about the two narratives is how cleverly they are woven together, so that a seemingly unimportant detail of Mary's earlier life would suddenly make sense when the reader comes to Jake's next chapter. Jake's age means that sometimes he sees things in a different way to how an adult might and it is in this way that the author includes a couple of very clever twists to the story without making anything seem far-fetched.
It is hard not to feel the joy and pain of the characters. Every aspect of their personalities is described in a very realistic and human way, and the virtues and flaws of each character are included meaning no one is a saint and no one is a complete villain. Vivid but simple descriptions make it is easy to imagine the characters interacting together, and also envisage the places they frequent.
I really enjoyed reading this heartfelt novel, and flew through it in a matter of hours. Even though it is not action-packed, the characters are so engaging that I just couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Isabel Ashdown is a very talented writer, and I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on her next novel, Hurry Up and Wait, when it is released this summer.
*This review was initially written for Libri Populus.*
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