On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold - #BookReview

 

I grew up in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half-finished sentences...

People asked, as people do, "So, little girl, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I'd like to be God."

I blame the vicar. He was the one who told us, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God."

All I wanted was to know.

Unsurprisingly, I did not grow up to be God. Instead, I became a journalist. 

***

Thorn Marsh was raised in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half- finished sentences. Now she's a journalist with a passion for truth, more devoted to her work at the London Journal than she ever was to her ex-husband.

When the newspaper is bought by media giant The Goring Group, who value sales figures over fact-checking, Thorn openly questions their methods, and promptly finds herself moved from the news desk to the midweek supplement, reporting heart-warming stories for their new segment, The Bright Side, a job to which she is spectacularly unsuited.

On a final warning and with no heart-warming news in sight, a desperate Thorn fabricates a good-news story of her own. The story, centred on an angelic apparition on Hampstead Heath, goes viral. Caught between her principles and her ambitions, Thorn goes in search of the truth behind her creation, only to find the answers locked away in the unconscious mind of a stranger.

***

This was an absolute delight to read and had I had the opportunity, I could easily have sat and read it all in one go. I was completely engaged with it, and I really did not want to put it down.

It has a wonderfully contemporary setting and illustrates how one item of fake news can snowball and have enormous consequences. It reads as a novel for the modern age.

Whilst it has this serious issue at its foundation, the author writes with humour. There were points during which I laughed out loud, which I rarely do with a book.

The main character, Thorn, is a fully rounded, flawed and endearing character. She is easy to engage with, and in her we witness her professional and personal integrity collide with her actions as the stereo-typical journalist who must have her story at any cost.

The main theme of the book is honesty, whether that be in the public sphere, the workplace or relationships. But most of all it is about being honest with ourselves, and not attempting to justify ill-considered decisions.

I am stunned that I have not come across this author before and am delighted to learn that she has a back catalogue of seven other novels. I feel a trip to the library coming this weekend.

It is a hugely entertaining book to read, and I highly recommend it. 

ISBN: 978 1911350927

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Format: hardback, paperback, e-book

No. of pages: 256 (paperback)

(book courtesy of Net Galley)

About the Author:

Marika was born in Sweden until aged 18 she married a British Naval Officer, moved to England and had two children.

She turned to writing when her children were young and her first novel, Guppies for Tea, was published in 1994 and it went on to be ‎picked for the first W.H. Smith’s Fresh Talent promotion. Following that the book was short-listed for The Sunday Express Book of the Year and after that it was serialised on Woman’s Hour. It was also published overseas, in the US, Canada, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Holland, and of course, Sweden. 

Marika has gone on to write seven other novels including Drowning Rose, Shooting Butterflies and Frozen Music.