Slags / Emma Jane Unsworth
What it is: a midlife crisis in a campervan
Did I like it: so glad I didn’t judge this book by its cover!
This category was provided by friend E, who had warned me that it would be more difficult than it appears and yes, she was right because one (I) automatically/subconsciously veers towards covers that one does like.
And if I hadn’t heard about this book, I wouldn’t have picked it up: I don’t like photos on covers and I don’t like the amount of text on the cover. But, I had heard about it and eventually I did buy it after all. And promptly enjoyed the heck out of it. Because, it’s the inside that counts of course, and the story itself was really good (even though the font size was a point too small for my liking). I do understand the cover, the image really fits, but I just don’t like it. (My apologies to the cover designer: it’s not you, it’s me.)
This book is about two sisters on a road trip. Sarah has organized the trip to celebrate Juliette’s fortieth birthday, and has rented a campervan which they use to travel around Scotland. The story is told from Sarah’s perspective and the chapters alternate between the now, in which Sarah is sort-of-sober, cynical, and single in the city, and the 90’s, when Sarah is fifteen, desperately in love with her teacher, and getting drunk on peach schnapps.
Juliette is married with children and living in the suburbs and you can sense Sarah’s eyerolls whenever ice-bath loving, tweed cap wearing brother-in-law Johnnie is mentioned.
They both carry some luggage from incidents that happened while they were young, and they are both uncomfortable discussing the past as much as the present. They haven’t really connected in a while and the trip is meant to kickstart their relationship.
Being a sibling is an odd thing: it’s the longest relationship you’ll have with someone, and it’s a relationship like no other because you know each other in ways nobody else ever will. That can lead to a beautiful, contentious or downright warring relationship. Sarah and Juliette’s relationship is a mixture of all of that and it’s wonderful. The trip is full of tense moments, and pranks and confessions alike.
The chapters set in the past are as good as the ones in the now. It gives an amazing insight into how Sarah became who she is, and how she dealt with the typical and not-so typical teenage stuff. Sarah and her best friend are obsessed with sex, they drink and try drugs, and they are both in love with out-of-reach men. It’s hilarious, cringy, and sad at the same time.
Both storylines take place over only a couple of days and are nicely mirrored that way.
Despite the chaos of the trip (hookups, too much whisky, frostbite) they manage to grow a bit and the last chapter felt like a well-deserved and true-to-style ending.
I found this book refreshing and didn’t want to put it down, so luckily I read this while it was unseasonably warm and too hot to do much else than read.
Bookworm in the City 