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The First Day of Spring: Discover the year’s most page-turning thriller

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What forcefully hits home is the lack of remorse and the clarity of thought as to what happened and how she behaved. When I realized Mam wasn’t going to come and see me, not even to shout, I went to the window and watched the fists of rain beating down outside. She stood very straight, with one arm wrapped around her middle and one hand gripping the side of her coat. She's an equal opportunity threat, all other kids are fair game, even the scant one or two who are her "friends". This one didn't work for me, mainly because I couldn't reconcile the young character with the older version of herself.

The First Day of Spring ‹ Literary Hub The First Day of Spring ‹ Literary Hub

Tucker's portrayal of the child Chrissie puts the reader inside the mind of a seriously disturbed eight year old, accurately depicting an eight year old's emotions, naivety and thought processes. I sat in one of the scratchy blue chairs by the window and Ann brought me the squash in a plastic cup.

The book takes you through the ghost train ride that is Chrissie's life, you'll be scared at some of her actions, you'll jump at some of her reactions but you'll be full of hope and relief at the ending. While the townspeople are in an emotional uproar, wondering who could do something like that, Chrissie goes about her days flinging insults and treating her friends like utter crap. stars: This is a story with hang time; this is a story that will make you cry; this is a story that is sad, suspenseful, hopeful, and heart wrenching.

The First Day of Spring - The Gilmore Guide to Books The First Day of Spring - The Gilmore Guide to Books

A quarter of the way through I was OH MY GOODNESS POOR LITTLE LOVE ( now that disturbed me) as I’ve got sympathy, understanding and raw empathy with this child who killed someone then as an adult whose hiding this secret. Chrissie’s upbringing was one of poverty, neglect, emotional abuse, poor nutrition high in sugar, and lack of supervision. In a multilayered narrative we learn of Chrissie's background of poverty, neglect and abuse, a mother that had never wanted her, leaving her starving and ignored, and a father that flitted in and out of her life, who could not care less for her either. The story slowly unravels Chrissie’s life from when she strangles a neighbor boy to her life in the children’s home.

But when she realises that there is someone waiting to take Molly away from her, she feels terrified and compelled to take a drastic action. Eight-year-old Chrissie's voice is so raw and authentic that I could not stop turning the pages, desperate to find out what she would do next. And as Julia manages her life with Molly, we wonder if she will be able to keep her because Julia has convinced even the reader that social services are a half a step away from taking Molly. From time to time I completely forgot that Chrissie in fact murdered a boy, because her story is so tragic and sad that I wanted to bundle her up (kicking and screaming as she definitely would have been - she is tough and fierce you know) and give her a big hot dinner, a bath and a safe place to live. It is forbidden to copy anything for publication elsewhere without written permission from the copyright holder.

The First Day of Spring - Penguin Books Australia The First Day of Spring - Penguin Books Australia

Chrissie finds relief in frenzied bursts of action that make her feel powerful: Acting as milk monitor at school (so she can drink the dregs from each bottle). This is a debut like no other in this subject matter that’s thrown me in circles and bashed me head first into a wall. She overheard being described as a “bad seed” and from that moment on she accepted she was bad and it was only whilst performing bad acts that she felt alive and “seen” by everyone. Chrissie is the best at almost everything, wall walking, getting free candy, handstands and now she’s got all the power. What we actually witness though is a woman living in fear and trying her hardest to do right by her daughter.I tried not to listen, but it stuffed itself into my head, snaked around inside me like ivy growing round the bars of a gate. Tucker follows one woman's reckoning with the quarantines of her childhood, seeking love amid dark secrets hiding in the nooks and crannies of all our lives. When the woman saw us she put the phone down and smiled the same smile as the people on the walls, except her teeth were like wonky yellow paving stones crunched up against each other. But she lives with the guilt of what she did when she was Chrissie, and the fear that someone, one day, will take her own daughter away from her.

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