Swallowing Grandma - Kate Long

...the first few chapters of Swallowing Grandmother (which are pretty awful) stick with it as it is a sensitively written book that reminded me of how hard it was to be a teenager in a small town and the quest to break free. I am now tempted to read Kate Long's first novel "The Bad Mother's Handbook "

I bought my copy of "Swallowing Grandma " on Amazon for £3.95  ... more

An interesting or unusual title makes a book more alluring to the reader. I have often picked up a book on the strength of the title alone. When the novel "Swallowing Grandma" by Kate Long was suggested at my book group I had to vote for it, as I was curious about such an odd title.

The book is a coming of age saga centred on the life of 18 year old Katherine Miller and her unconventional family in Banktop, a fictional mining village supposedly between Wigan and Bolton.

Katherine lives with her professional northerner of a grandmother Poll, as her father died before she was born and then her mother abandoned her shortly afterwards. The book is about Katherine's (or Kat as she wants to be known) quest to find herself and ultimately her mother. Katherine's story is intertwined with her mother's tragic story of coming to terms with being a teenage mother alongside the grief of losing her boyfriend.

I had a roller coaster ride of thoughts, opinions and emotions reading this book. At first I hated it and wished I had never voted for the awful book. I think this is due partially to the writing and characterisation. Katherine at the start of the book is a very infuriating, unlovable character. She is studious, serious and overweight. In fact she is the typical nerd that no one likes. Her only friends outside her family are Rebbecca, another nerdy teenager and the two librarians at her local library. I found her very immature (and to an extent she is due to her sheltered upbringing). Her grandmother buys all her clothes and does not let her go to Bolton the big town on her own. She writes in her diary about wanting to be thin and accepted by the popular girls She thinks she might be a lesbian due to her crush on Donna (who she think is lush) who is one of the girls who thinks she is weird. I found that at the start the book reads like teenage chick lit. I found the popular girls in the school also immature, as they were as bad with the teasing. I could identify with Katherine as I have been through similar things as I was the weird studious kid at school butt I felt that it applied lower down secondary school rather than in sixth year when people were less cliquey and more open minded. I found Katherine really wet and wanted her to just rebel. I found her grandmother Poll, a walking northern cliché. All in the entire first few chapters were torture.

My opinion started to change when Katherine's mother's story unfolded. Her pregnancy, loss of her boyfriend in a car accident and her post natal depression leading up to abandoning Katherine is told very sympathetically and I was moved by it. For a while when I was still struggling with Katherine I could not wait to get to her side of the story.

However my feelings about Katherine changed as she meets Callum, a stranger who turns up out of the blue claiming to be her cousin (but is he really her cousin?). She gets slightly more confident and makes a bid for freedom. I think the strength of the book and Kate Long.'s writing is that the writing matures as Katherine does. She grows up a hell of a lot within the novel (which spans a year from just before her 18th birthday to the following Christmas). I began to realise although she is young for her years in some ways she is she is also old before her years after having to look after her cantankerous grandmother. I felt for Katherine in her longing to break away and go to university whilst not wanting to leave her Grandmother and all that is familiar. I think the book sensitively deals with Katherine's bulimia brought upon by a need to feel attractive, loved and in control of her own destiny. It also raises the issue of irresponsible websites that promote anorexia and bulimia to vulnerable girls.

The book was moving but also funny in parts. I especially liked the relationship between Katherine and Dogman (a friend of her grandmother's who specialises in second hand things that must come off the back of a lorry!!). It is nice gentle northern humour that really gives the book warmth to it. I did find the book predictable in parts. There were a few incidents when I could see what was coming a mile off. The real identity of Callum springs to mind, as does the identity of her mother.

I never expected to care for Katherine when I started the book but by the end of it I rebook I really empathised with her. If you can get past the first few chapters of Swallowing Grandmother (which are pretty awful) stick with it as it is a sensitively written book that reminded me of how hard it was to be a teenager in a small town and the quest to break free. I am now tempted to read Kate Long's first novel "The Bad Mother's Handbook "

I bought my copy of "Swallowing Grandma " on Amazon for £3.95 

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