Newborn: Running Away, Breaking From the Past, Building a New Family by Kerry Hudson - #bookreview

 

When I go back into the bathroom there it is. No more than a whisper, a shadow of a second line. A life changed in a 1mm by 2mm blush of pink. I call Peter in and we stare, shining a phone torch light on it. I laugh and cry all at once...

***

In Newborn, prizewinning writer Kerry Hudson navigates trying to build a nourishing, safe and loving family - without a blueprint to work from

Kerry Hudson is celebrated for her emotionally and politically powerful writing about growing up in poverty. Her books and journalism have changed the conversation and touched countless lives.

In this new book she asks: what next, after a childhood like hers? What hope is there of creating a different life for herself, let alone future generations? We see how Kerry found love, what it took to decide to start a family of her own and how fragile every step of the journey towards parenthood was. All along the way, she faces obstacles that would test the strongest foundations, from struggles with fertility to being locked down in a Prague maternity hospital to a marriage in crisis. But over and over again, her love, hope, fight -- and determination to break patterns and give her son a different life -- win through and light her path.

Newborn is a beautiful, empowering memoir about creating a family in the midst of chaos, and learning new ways to find happiness. It continues the journey Kerry started in her bestselling memoir Lowborn, illuminating her experiences of becoming a mother, reshaping her future and reclaiming her identity.

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I have not read the author's previous book, Lowborn, but there was sufficient reference to it during this book for me to pick up the gist. Having now read Newborn I would definitely like to go back and read her earlier work.

Kerry Hudson is a remarkable woman who has overcome great difficulties in her life. This is a brilliantly honest memoir. Not many of us would be brave enough to share our vulnerabilities in the way that she has and she is to be admired for it.

In Newborn, she has written a candid and authentic account of the challenges of pregnancy and new motherhood whilst trying to deal with personal illness in a foreign country. In fact, her descriptions of living in Prague are vibrant and imbue the book with life and colour. The difficulties of living as an expat whilst pregnant and during the pandemic were not insignificant as Ms. Hudson describes her experience extremely well.

She is an excellent writer and has honed her skill as a journalist. She tells her story succinctly and without sentimentality. She writes with intelligence and integrity and I highly recommend this book.

ISBN:  978 1784744991

Publisher:  Chatto & Windus

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages:  272 (hardback)

About the Author:

Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen. Her first novel, TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA was published in 2012 by Chatto & Windus (Penguin Random House) and was the winner of the Scottish First Book Award while also being shortlisted for the Southbank Sky Arts Literature Award, Guardian First Book Award, Green Carnation Prize, Author’s Club First Novel Prize and the Polari First Book Award. Kerry’s second novel, THIRST, was published in 2014 by Chatto & Windus and won France’s most prestigious award for foreign fiction the Prix Femina Étranger. It was also shortlisted for the European Premio Strega in Italy. Her books are also available in the US (Penguin), France (Editions Philippe Rey), Italy (Minimum Fax) and Turkey.

Her book and memoir, LOWBORN, takes her back to the towns of her childhood as she investigates her own past and what it means to be poor in Britain today. It was a Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Guardian and Independent Book of the Year. It was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Portico Prize and shortlisted in the National Book Token, Books Are My Bag Reader’s Awards and the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

(book courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)

10 Year Blogversary - My Favourite Book from 2016 - The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

 

I dream about Carmel often. In my dreams she's always walking backwards.

The day she was born there was snow on the ground. A silvery light arced through the window as I held her in my arms.

As she grew up I nicknamed her 'my little hedge child'. I couldn't imagine her living anywhere but the countryside. Her thick curly hair stood out like a spray of breaking glass, or a dandelion clock...

***

Carmel is missing - but doesn't know she's lost.

When sensitive, distracted eight-year-old Carmel becomes separated from her mother at a local children's festival, a man claiming to be her estranged grandfather finds her - and takes her.

Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth makes it her mission to find her. But in what she's told is her new family, Carmel has embarked on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is - and who she might become.

***

Continuing with my ten year blog anniversary celebrations, here is another of my favourites of the decade. Today I am publishing my favourite read from 2016 and was originally posted on 8th January of that year.  I noted the price as costing £5.59 for the paperback that day. Today the same edition would cost £4.99 from the same retailer which is a little cheaper than it was at the time.

I have updated the review a little so there is more information about the book and the author but essentially the review is as it appeared that day.

This is a splendidly well thought out novel and was a fantastic read.

While I was reading this I could not help but be reminded of real life abduction cases i.e. Ben Needham, Madeleine McCan and many other lower profile cases of missing children. I think this made the story all the more real and relevant and, as a mother myself, my heart ached for the desperation felt by Carmel's mother Beth, as she lived through this nightmare.

What I thought was really clever about this book was the way the chapters alternated between Beth and Carmel which gave the novel two distinct voices throughout and allowed the reader to empathise with both characters.

What was uppermost in my mind whilst reading this book was whether Beth and Carmel would be reunited in the end. Now, as you all know, my reviews never contain spoilers, so suffice to say that I was kept guessing to the very end. I shall say no more!

The characters, the atmosphere and the plot was all wonderfully well executed being believable, intriguing and compelling.

Once again, I am amazed that this is a debut novel and not at all surprised that it was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award 2015. This is a novel of great skill and Ms Hamer is definitely one to watch.

ISBN: 978 0571313266

Publisher:  Faber & Faber

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  384 (paperback)

About the Author:

Kate grew up Pembrokeshire and has had a passion for books since being a small child.  She has written stories ever since she could hold a pencil. She studied art in university then worked in television for over ten years - mostly on documentaries, much of which involved using her writing skills. She studied creative writing at Aberystwyth University and won a prize there for the 'best beginning to a novel' - the book that went on to be 'The Girl in the Red Coat.'

She won the Rhys Davies short story prize in 2011 and the winning story was read out on Radio 4.

Kate currently lives in Cardiff with her husband and Mimi the cat.