"Glasshopper" by Alison Ashdown

Today we met (for the third time now) to discuss "Glasshopper" by Isabel Ashdown.

It was Helen's choice, and was very popular.   We had some common thoughts about the story - firstly, we didn't understand why the author created Matt, the eldest son.  We knew nothing about him apart from the fact that he couldn't stand living with Mary any more. We don't know why he never got in touch with his father, and he was barely mentioned by the parents, and there was no sense that they were trying to find him.  No one mentioned him during the very dramatic final scenes of the book either.  Very odd.
We felt Mary probably had mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder, and that her drinking resulted from this, rather than that she was an alcoholic.  We sympathized and thought that her own upbringing had been difficult.  On the whole, though, we felt most of the adult characters displayed weakness some or all of the time.  Jake,and to a lesser extent, his brother Andy, was a believable and likeable character who had to contend with a lot of sadness.  (Please email me any other thoughts you have if you'd like them included here in our review)

Helen helpfully made some very detailed (and, er, very small) notes on the book as she read it.....

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NEXT MEETING Wednesday 9 July

At Jan's house - Hilltop, 24 Temple Road at 3.00pm to discuss "The Storyteller" by Jodi Picoult