Our reviews on the website are normally anonymous but this one was written by Isobel, who sadly died shortly after writing the review for us. As many of you will know Isobel was a huge supporter of the library. Even though she was less able to get to the library recently, she still sent in book reviews, always written in her inimitable style.
It seemed fitting that we use her review, and I’m sure she would have appreciated the irony of the title! Farewell lovely Isobel.
Recently, I was incarcerated in hospital for eleven days – with nothing to read. And a friend brought me in a couple of books, one of which was this one – A Tidy Ending, by Joanna Cannon. The first sentence got me. I read the whole thing solidly till it was finished. And when it was finished, I was stunned. Didn’t really know what emotion I was feeling. Then I started laughing. I shook my head and laughed. It was a brilliant book. Absolutely brilliant.
It was the plot. The plot! It wove round and about with twists and turns and ins and outs – you’d be caught up in one aspect, then suddenly find yourself whisked off in a completely different direction, and yet another and another. It was light and funny, with ominous hints of menace – and pathos – humanity – running through it. The writing itself is clear and clean and funny with it. Sometimes even comic. But always with that sense of something not-quite-right.
It’s all about Linda. Ordinary, human Linda, who keeps herself to herself, is married to ordinary, hapless Terry, and stays in an ordinary house in an ordinary street and lives an ordinary life.
She is a very sympathetic character. Terry likes to go down the pub every now and again – and shouts at football on the telly. But Linda would prefer to stay quiet and do her crosswords. She likes crosswords and puzzles. She also notices things, tiny details. Often things that nobody else seems to see. She has a part-time job in a secondhand shop and that keeps her going. She likes working there. She can be invisible in among all the secondhand clothes. Normally she’s only too noticeable – she’s big and clumsy and knocks things down and wears size nine shoes. So she tends to keep herself to herself.
Life was just drifting along, nice and easy. Then the murders started. And the street wasn’t ordinary any more.
And that’s it from me. You’re going to have to read the rest of this book by yourselves. All its ins and outs and ups and downs – its human feelings – its sadnesses – its humour – its observation – its great big questions – about life and everything else – are all there, waiting to be read. A whodunnit par excellence! Enjoy!
[We have a copy of A Tidy Ending in the library]
