The List of Suspicious Things

 

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey - General fiction 

 A book I knew from the start I was going to thoroughly enjoy. If you were around in the late 1970's/early 1980’s you would possibly remember where you were around the time of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. They shook the whole country to the core and this elusive serial killer evaded police for a long time. Miv is not yet a teenager but thinks she has a wise head on young shoulders. She and her friend Sharon decide that if the police can’t find him then they may as well have a go themselves and so begins the list. This tells of what childhood and life was like at the time. Children went out to play with no form of communication just “ be back before it's dark”. There was a community around them who cared as well as a few who didn't and as Miv’s friend Ishtiaq knows there was the beginnings of racism brewing. Miv tells things as it is. She lives with her father and Aunt as her mother is ill and goes away to hospital occasionally ,we know not quite why or what. This is the story of a young girl growing up and of friendship and very much more.

I so loved this. One of those reads I wanted to savour and tried not to race through but I wanted more and more of Miv and her adventures and perhaps a stroll back through time. There’s the sweets of the era and the songs, a trip down memory lane for some. Of life with a certain menace in the background and of life lessons which can be tough. Of three rings and caring, of family and of bonds. Stunning, memorable, brilliant.

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