A Review

Late last summer Caroline left a comment on my blog. I'm so glad that she did because not only did I make a lovely new blog friend, but I'd also discovered a talented new writer. From the moment that I read the extract of In Search of Adam on her website I was hooked. This is great stuff, I thought. I really liked the writing style and I was immediately drawn into the world of the narrator. Of course, with such great writing and it being such a highly original novel, it wasn't long before Caroline found a publisher and the rest is history.

I received my copy on Thursday and finished it by Friday night. It is a beautiful, haunting and powerful novel. It is also very sad and disturbing. But then it has to be for its choice of subject matter.

I admit that it does not make easy reading, and as I read I had this anxious knot in my stomach. But that's good. It made me feel and it made me think, and I like novels that make me feel and think. I really cared for Jude. She is a child crying out to be loved and I wanted to rescue her from all those horrible adults. The novel made me question why such evil exists in this world, and why anyone would ever want to do such dreadful things to a child. It made me question many things that are wrong in this society.

Caroline is a wonderful writer and is able to successfully pull you into Jude's world by describing it all through Jude's eyes using her child-like voice. Because of this, the language is not always dark. One minute I was close to tears at the horrors that Jude had to endure and the next I could raise a little smile as I read her descriptions and observations of the adults around her.

I also thought that this is a novel that is so well crafted, and Caroline does break many grammatical rules. But it all works brilliantly and I don't think she could tell this story any differently.

In Search of Adam is one of those books that gripped from the start and I finished it in two days. It is a novel that will stay in my mind for a long time yet I'm sure.