Thursday 21 August 2014

Tiger Moth by Suzi Moore

untitled (5)
I’m not like you. I’m not like everyone else. I wasn’t born. I was chosen.
Published by Simon and Schuster in August 2014
Pages – 239
Summary
Ever since she was adopted by her parents, Culver Manor, with its hidden rooms and overgrown garden has been the one place Alice feels safe, the one place she can call home. Everything's perfect. Until it isn't. When she finds out her Mum is going to have a baby, Alice's world turns upside down. Will they love their real baby more than her? Why isn't she enough for them an...more Ever since she was adopted by her parents, Culver Manor, with its hidden rooms and overgrown garden has been the one place Alice feels safe, the one place she can call home. Everything's perfect. Until it isn't. When she finds out her Mum is going to have a baby, Alice's world turns upside down. Will they love their real baby more than her? Why isn't she enough for them anymore? Alice doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't speak at all. She stays silent that day and the day after that, until six months have passed without her saying one single word.
Zack has everything he could want. His dad's a film stuntman, he lives in the best house on the best street and is Mr Popular at school. Everything's perfect. Until it isn't. Zack's dad is killed on set and he and his mum are forced to sell their house and move to a tiny cottage by the sea. Ripped from the life he once knew, Zack is angry at the world and looking for trouble. Then he meets Alice, the girl who doesn't speak, and together they begin to realise that sometimes it's when life seems less than perfect that the most magical things can happen.
****
I can’t help it, but I truly love the way Suzi Moore writes. She has such a warmth to her voice it draws you in, hands you a blanket and allows you to dream of your childhood.  I felt like I stepped back in time to my own childhood.
Set in Devon, the story is told from dual perspectives. First we meet Alice, who we discover from the start is adopted and struggling to come to terms with the impending changes to her family. When her parents tell her they are having their very own child, Alice quickly feels unstable  and no longer can see how she will fit within her own family. Her anger hits you instantly as selective muteness takes over.
When Zack appears in the book, you know straight away that he is struggling to come to terms with the death of his father. The life he has always known is instantly erased from existence and he is thrust unwillingly back into his mother’s past.  Both characters instantly draw out your empathy as a reader, as you desperately want everything to be right again for them. They are both suffering in their own way until they meet each other; their new found friendship helps to ease the pain that surrounds them on a daily basis.
The setting for the book is simply gorgeous. It reminded me of Clovelly in Devon; the kind of British sea side village I would love to live in. The descriptions of the village and Culver Manor, where Alice lived, had me yearning to visit Devon over  the summer holidays. It was lovely to be able to imagine myself sitting on the private beach, watching the seals in the distance. I swear I could almost hear the waves crashing against the shore.
There is a secret about Culver Manor, that hovers gently over the book. You know a past exists, but you can’t quite put your finger on it, until the secrets are revealed at the end.
I had a couple of tiny niggles with the book. One was that the character, George, who appeared quite dominant in the end of the book, did not appear in the beginning. I would have loved to have seen his presence a little earlier, as he was a colourful and eccentric Miss Daisy style character. My second niggle was the epilogue, where I felt there were elements to it that I wasn’t prepared for.
On the whole I really enjoyed this book. It had whispers of mystery circling  the growing pains of two beautiful, innocent souls trying to float in the turbulent sea of change. I honestly can’t wait to see what Suzi Moore writes next.
If your child is looking for a summer read to accompany them on the long journey to your holiday destination, then I can’t think of a better book than this to read.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.