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Rosy read from her latest novel Ninepins which was fantastic for me as a fan of her writing and also because it was my current read at that time.
Rosy was celebrating an award win from the East Anglian Book Awards, sponsored by the Eastern Daily Press and Jarrolds, which took place at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich on 15th Nov 2012.
Ninepins won the prize for fiction (novels and short stories).
Congratulations, Rosy!
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| Photos courtesy of the author |
The awards were presented by Sophie Hannah
Rosy says "I'm a huge fan of hers, so was very excited to meet her."
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| Rosy and her award |
My review
The blurb
Deep in the Cambridgeshire fens, Laura is living alone with her 12-year old daughter Beth, in the old tollhouse known as Ninepins. She's in the habit of renting out the pumphouse, once a fen drainage station, to students, but this year she's been persuaded to take in 17-year-old Willow, a care-leaver with a dubious past, on the recommendation of her social worker, Vince. Is Willow dangerous or just vulnerable? It's possible she was once guilty of arson; her mother's hippy life is gradually revealed as something more sinister; and Beth is in trouble at school and out of it. Laura's carefully ordered world seems to be getting out of control. With the tension of a thriller, NINEPINS explores the idea of family, and the volatile and changing relationships between mothers and daughters, in a landscape that is beautiful but - as they all discover - perilous.
Laura, single mum to Beth aged 12 takes on a new lodger for the pumphouse next to her remote house in The Fens. Previous tenants have always been students, but due to the persuasion of Vince allows a young 17 year old, Willow, leaving care to move into the pumphouse.
Willow has had a difficult past and as Laura and her daughter Beth get to know her more about her past is known. Vince, is Willow's social worker and spends quite of bit of time with the family as they help Willow to make the move from care to independence.
As a fan of Rosy Thornton's novel The Tapestry of Love I was delighted to read Ninepins, which is in the same style of storytelling. The setting, in this case the very rural landscape of The Fens in Cambridgeshire, is as much a part of the story as the characters. The Fens is a very unpredictable landscape, one I drive through sometimes on my way to Ely or the coast, but would not want to live in for that very reason. I read this novel fearing what would happen next knowing that bad weather or the dark can change The Fens very quickly and make it perilous.
In this novel mother-daughter relationships are explored through Willow's story and Beth's story. The author captures the fears of a mother with an asthmatic child, who is becoming more independent, very accurately.
I loved this novel, not only because I could identify with Laura, but also because it was set in a familiar setting.
The Fens, Asthma, Mother-daughter relationships, foster care
10 out of 10 for me!
10 out of 10 for me!
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| The Award in a Fens setting which is where the novel is set |
Review copy
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