Author: Claire McFall
Published: 1 February 2014 by Templar
Length: 336 pages
Source: publisher
Other info: Claire has also written Ferryman, which I reviewed
here and won the Scottish Booktrust Award.
Summary : The English
government have closed the borders with their Celtic neighbours. Any Celt found
in England is branded with a tattoo, found twice they are executed. Scottish
Lizzie is the 'property' of psychopathic London gang boss Alexander. Can Lizzie
escape Alexander's deadly grip and at what price her betrayal?
Review: Following
bad economic times, England closes the borders with Scotland and Wales and brings in
a new policy: Celts found in England are branded. Branded Celts in
England are killed. Lizzie is one such branded Celt, who is the
"property" of Alexander, a gang boss in London, who keeps her around
for her bombmaking skills. as time goes on, Lizzie realises she might like a
life outside the gang. Which is something that Alexander does not like at all.
I read McFall's Ferryman last year and really enjoyed it. I
was looking forwards to this, especially with everything going on about the Scottish
Independence referendum. Extreme nationalist governments make good reading (not
real life), and so do gangs. Add in promises of a clever awesome female
character and I'm sold.
You very quickly get pulled into Lizzie's world, both the
political climate and the gang life that she’s part of. It’s a world that is
believable, if you imagine that a yes vote leads to extreme xenophobia on
the English peoples’ part (ie just a huge
ramp up of how it is now).
I love the fact that all the characters are well fleshed out
really well. You really get close to them, even if that closeness is not
something that you really want to be. Alexander’s creepiness seems to know no
bounds. Lizzie, I liked a lot; she’s resourceful, and you want things to go
right for her, even though they tend not to. I loved reading about them and how
they got where they are and where they want to go.
It’s very very different to Ferryman. McFall writes well in
both softer afterlife stories and gritty thrillers. I’m looking forwards to see
what she does next.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fast paced relevant dystopia.
This book sounds very, very intriguing and what an interesting cover to boot. I confess to knowing very little about what's currently going on with the Scottish referendum, and it sounds like this book is certainly playing off in relevant times in relation to that. Great review!
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