Little Wing
By Freya North
Blurb
Little Wing is the powerful story of two families over three generations.
In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell and Dougie are both at critical moments in their lives when their paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers sought.
Little Wing is a novel about resilience, forgiveness and the true meaning of family, about finding one's place in the world and discovering how we all belong somewhere and to someone.
Our Review
I have been a fan of Freya North's books for almost 20 years now. Imagine my excitement when I discovered that I was going to be involved in a book fairy campaign involving her new book Little Wing. i was even more excited when I realised I would have time to read and review the book before the campaign.
Nell has a simple life. Her flat is ordered and everything has it's place. She spends her days in a job she loves, visiting her friend Frank and then visiting her mother in the evenings (I'll get to her mother later in the review.)
"Nell never thought of her crew as remoutely challenged. In fact, she she often felt it was her customers who had special needs which her staff fulfilled and surpassed all the time. Tea and sympathy. Coffee and a breather. Cake and a chat."
I knew very early in the book that Nell was going to be a character I would love.
For those of you who haven't picked up a Freya North book before then you are in for a real treat. Her characters are intricately detailed and designed to make you care what happens to them, even if they are seemingly minor characters.
Nell may not acknowledge that anything is lacking in her life but those around her are fully aware and often try to encourage her to look beyond her self imposed confines.
Nell's mother has dementia and I cannot express enough how much the scenes between her and Nell moved me. Nell's mother often doesn't recognise her daughter, or even remember that she has one. Some of the scenes with her are heartbreaking but there are some particularly uplifting ones as well. North definitely captures the agony and the joys of loving someone with dementia.
One particular passage that made me laugh came when Nell is outside with her mother sat on a memorial bench.
"When I'm gone I don't want a bench. I don't want people's wrinkled arses on my memory."
Nell's mother often calls her by the name 'Florence', a name she doesn't recognise but which proves to be important later in the story.
Little Wing also features the point of view of two characters who are equally important to the story and both of their stories were as emotive as Nell's own.
This was a wonderful book and is defintely going to be one of my favourites of the year.
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 94 Times.
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