Kate Rigby

She Looks Pale

Amazon.com  She Looks Pale

My review -

This quirky and sad little story (10,000 words) is narrated by a little girl called Hannah and is convincingly child-like in its descriptions. I enjoy the first person narrative style because of its immediacy and this was particularly effective here. Sometimes we get more of an adult perspective as photo albums and other writing by adults are included. We realise that the child is helplessly in the grip of her parents' monstrous beliefs about the modern world. The characters were beliivable though not all likable by any means. Her mother's high standards eventually become tainted and deformed as the story progresses.

Kate Rigby's writing is deceptively simple, lucid and flowing. I do enjoy her style. It's creative and effective. On a personal note, I particularly enjoyed the fact that Hannah referred to the cat next door as the Funny Ossity. That's a term I haven't heard for years. My Gran used to call me a funniosity! Throughout the book, tone of a child's narration was true and I found it a most unusual and compelling story. A good and memorable read.