Finished May 6
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
This is a brilliant first novel featuring a set of fascinating characters.
The main character here is Lewis Aldridge and this book follows his story from his father returning from the Second World War until the late fifties. Lewis' mother is a bit of a rebel, and she is very close to him, reserving times for mother-son outings on picnics in the woods. On one of the picnics, she falls victim to a terrible end and this is the start of Lewis' problems. Lewis retreats into himself and his father's reaction to the situation does not assist in Lewis's recovery. As his father remarries and Lewis' issues grow they finally result in a very public crime. Lewis goes to jail for two years and when he comes back, finds that all in the community don't seem to want to give him the chance to begin again. The father, Gilbert is a very interesting character here as well, including the choices he makes in wives. There are many other village characters here, but the family of Carmichaels play the biggest role. The father, Dicky is a bully and is also Gilbert's boss. The oldest daughter Tamsin is a beauty and knows it. She uses her beauty to manipulate those around her. The younger daughter, Kit, is an observer, and she has been observing Lewis throughout the years and understands better than most what kind of person he is. As Lewis faces up to the community, all these characters come together in a very interesting way.
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