Some reviews of Charity's Child

Parents, eh? Maybe some teenage girls can talk – really talk – to their mothers, but most can’t, and in “Charity’s Child”, narrator Joanne’s problems with her mother are painfully authentic. The problems are compounded by the dysfunctional marital relationships of those in her immediate circle at the evangelical ‘Crabbies’ fellowship. Joanne might have continued quietly with her life, keeping her head down in her maths books and coping with the loss of her father thanks to the counselling of the kindly Pastor, Tom, but then Charity bursts into her life and Joanne suddenly has to deal with unexpected rapture and commitment. Spiritual, emotional and physical crises follow one after another in this utterly compelling narrative, as Charity’s pregnancy galvanises the characters into trying to take control of their lives, often with devastating consequences. The characters which at first seem the most reliable start to falter, others find strength, and the reader is gripped by a narrative that insists on being read from the first to last page without a break.

Reviewer: Catherine Edmunds, author of ‘Small Poisons’



Here's a great read. Strong characters and strong emotions. It's an adult book, but it's also one of those titles that crosses the adult/young-adult divide. Teachers will love it. Bad teachers because of the issues - child abuse, self-harm, lesbianism, religious conviction vs scepticism - and good teachers because of the way they're covered, in such a vivid and quietly humorous way. No racism, thank the Lord, and the characters don't carry the issues around like placards; in fact they rather lead you up the garden path. There's one - Tom - who irritates me a bit, but he gets the ending he deserves. Some subtle discussions about God along the way. You'll be hooked from the 1st page and you'll enjoy it.

Reviewer: David Milnes, author of ‘The Ghost of Neil Diamond’