The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Careless by Kirsty Capes

Very interested to hear what others think about this. It rings true as a very authentic book about a tricky subject. Almost on the border of being YA. An important topic that is worthy of discussion, and the book does it justice I think.

Some reviews do describe it as YA

This doesn’t appeal to me at all. This, “ Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn't come without conditions.

But this isn't a love story... ” is why. It sounds very much like a book for high school girls.

An abridged version of this was serialised on BBC R4 last year, in case anyone is interested:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09g...

Did you listen to it, Di? Was it good?

I was seeing Eric Karl Andersson's reaction video and he said that the author is Bernadine Evaristo's student? protégée? anyway there's some connection.

Like last year, I was super selective with buying my WP and IB books and i'll have to do the same this year as I have quite a few bookish events this month ( one will be moderating a discussion with Jan Carson and one of our local authors)

Yes she was her advisor or something at college? But don’t expect any similarities in the writing! At least between Girl, Woman, Other and this.

Since I seem to be one of the few people who have read this, I will say I think it’s a pretty raw coming of age story. I said before I would consider it almost YA - I said almost because I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable recommending this book to my teenage students unless they were very mature.
The author herself is a ‘care leaver’ - which helps the authenticity that I think is very clear in the book. I really don’t know if people in this group will like it, but I’m glad I read it.

I know we are told not to judge a book by its cover - but this cover does not really scream out positively to me ...........

(Also but let's be honest the idea is a silly one - I can scan a page of ARCs on Net Galley and can pretty well identify just from cover pictures which genre each book fits in and which readers it is aimed at)

The author did a PhD on care narratives in contemporary fiction - and Evaristo was her PhD supervisor

WndyJW - no I haven’t listened to it yet. I just came across it yesterday when I was compiling my sources for the longlisted books. I thought it might be a good way to get a flavour of the book if I find myself running out of reading time before the shortlist announcement!
Sounds like BE might have leant on the judges to include it in the longlist, but it may be one that doesn’t make it through to the next level?

Di wrote: "An abridged version of this was serialised on BBC R4 last year, in case anyone is interested:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09g..."

That could be ideal for Paul and the first of his recently proposed new abridged prize listed books series

Robert, who is Jan Carson? That name is familiar. Where are you moderating the discussion?

WndyJW wrote: "Robert, who is Jan Carson? That name is familiar. Where are you moderating the discussion?"

I'll be moderating it at our university campus book festival

She's an Irish author who won the European Prize for her novel the Fire Starters (which is excellent - I would say a bob book through and through)

Her latest, The Raptures is just as good

I have The Fire Starters, I think because you recommended it. How exciting, Robert!

Before I knew who Carson was I thought perhaps they were a child’s author and you were doing the interview at your school. It’s an honor to be chosen by the university book store to do the interview, they must be familiar with the number of books you read and the quality of your reviews.

Who is the local author?

Any chance the interview will be recorded and available somewhere for the rest of us to watch?

Robert, you should share this on the Book News thread. It’s interesting and I bet a number of people are waiting until they read Careless to check this thread.

Talking of The Fire Starters, The Firestarter himself died this week, aged only 49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5...

I’ve mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I appreciate the author dealing a myriad of relevant issues with sensitivity. However, despite her cultural research, she unintentionally downplayed the severity of a prevailing issue. Readers from dissimilar cultural backgrounds may find it hard to understand what I'm speaking of. I'll wait for others to finish reading before I share my thoughts.

I just read your thoughtful review. Perhaps it may be worthwhile posting a link to it here then people can read it individually as they read the novel so as to benefit from the cultural insights there? And then we can discuss as a group when a group of us have read it.

Thank you, I didn't think about this! Interested ones can check my review here : Careless by Kristy Capes

Such a good review! Thanks for linking. Not something I picked up in my reading, so I really appreciate your thoughts.

Excellent review, Atulya. I’m curious to see what others think about this book and it’s treatment of that issue.

WndyJW wrote: "I have The Fire Starters, I think because you recommended it. How exciting, Robert!

Before I knew who Carson was I thought perhaps they were a child’s author and you were doing the..."

I know this thread is about another book so I'll promote the event on book news. Usually the events are recorded but this one is in the university quadrangle, which means it's outside - I don't think it will be possible. The local author is Lara Calleja, who, like Jan Carson writes about political problems using stories as a basis - Jan likes to talk about the Troubles, Lara focuses on the corruption and relentless destruction of our country just to make money - my job it to bring out these ties and hopefully both authors will discuss them - preferably they'll bounce ideas off each other

Paul wrote: "Talking of The Fire Starters, The Firestarter himself died this week, aged only 49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5..."

The song is mentioned in the book - Jan Carson mentions a lot of 90's tunes in her books - 2 Unlimited's No Limits plays a huge part in The Raptures

Good luck, Robert. I’m sorry we won’t be able to see or hear the interview. Make sure to tell us about it afterwards.

WndyJW wrote: "Good luck, Robert. I’m sorry we won’t be able to see or hear the interview. Make sure to tell us about it afterwards."

Thanks!

I just finished this. A lot better than I expected and I wouldn't class it as YA. My review is here if anyone is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks also to Atulya for an excellent and v informative review. To an extent, I think Capes was caught between a rock and a hard place here - if she had gone with the other outcome, I can see her being criticised for stereotypical depictions of Muslim families/arranged marriages. However, this does not in any way invalidate Atulya's criticisms, with which I totally agree, and I think Capes could certainly have portrayed the family differently so the outcome wasn't so implausible.

Re. Evaristo potentially getting this long listed - it has a v positive quote from Pandora Sykes on the cover so I think it might have been her pet pick.

Laura wrote: "I just finished this. A lot better than I expected and I wouldn't class it as YA. My review is here if anyone is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks also to Atulya ..."
Thank you for your kind words! I think that Kristy Capes played safe here and chose the least controversial depiction. Eshal is a great representation of a Bangladeshi character and many Asian women will identify with her thoughts and conflicts - few reviewers will find any issue with her take on arranged marriages. Forget about Capes, even among the southasian diaspora, arrganed marriages is a tricky topic to debate upon.

I can see how it might have turned disastrous for Capes. Whenever a white author opts a controversial take on writing about the issues of women of colour, the scrutiny will be especially harsh. She will be accused of being biased against arranged marriages, or called a ‘racist’, and she might have even hurt certain religious sentiments. I can only imagine the degree of reproval the author might face and I do not wish that upon her.

That being said, the ending resolution might have been more believable if she’d further explored Eshal’s family dynamics or portrayed snippets of meaningful conversations instead of attempting to smooth the issue with one superficial conversation in the end.

Atulya wrote: "Laura wrote: "I just finished this. A lot better than I expected and I wouldn't class it as YA. My review is here if anyone is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks a..."

100% agree! There are definitely ways she could have explored the family dynamics with greater complexity so the outcome didn't feel so out of the blue.

I just finished reading this. To me, this is very much YA, in its subject matter, demographic and characters. It's not out here in the US but I just touched base with the teen librarian where I work, and she said that it's exactly the kind of book she would buy for the YA collection. And I don't think we'd buy it for the adult fiction collection.

I thought it was a fine in terms of a read, and certainly some tackled important issues fairly frankly but I cannot at all understand what it is doing on the Women's Prize longlist. I simply can't. There was nothing at all about it that struck me as remarkable or noteworthy or different from other books with similar subject matters.

I must say I read this this evening and definitely see it as YA fiction. I cannot say I liked it at all either

My review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Gumble’s Yard - I always appreciate your thoughtful reviews. You are so respectful of a book and author, and even when you don’t like a book you still point out what the merits are or how you can see why someone else might like it, while still unpacking what didn’t work for you. It’s a tricky balance but you do so well!

Thank you that’s kind. I always try to assume the author will read the review.

Robert wrote: "WndyJW wrote: "I have The Fire Starters, I think because you recommended it. How exciting, Robert!

Before I knew who Carson was I thought perhaps they were a child’s author and you..."

Nice to see Jan Carson's tweet this morning - that Robert is "just as nice, beardy and well read in the real world as online"

Brilliant

Thanks! Jan's a great conversationalist

I liked this quite a bit more than I thought I would and gave it 3.5* rounded up because it's a debut. The voice of the main character was strong and consistent, and even though the two main topics (teen pregnancy, living in foster care) aren't 'new' they were told without feeling like a rehash.