As for Y, I remember the general thrust of the book and a few of the scenes but would have to say that it hasn’t grown in memory since I read it.

She was also at at fiction evening hosted by Faber last night to unveil their top picks for the year ahead to press/booksellers etc. I was astonished at how young she was! Anyway, now have a hardcover edition to get stuck into at some point…

Thank you for the very thought and, in my opinion, accurate review. While I enjoyed this Celona’s writing inmensely (I was sent a copy of the book by her publisher), I, too, felt that there was something a little too “pat” about the ending. However, like you, this did not stop me from reading. I can only hope that we will be hearing more from this writer. In the meantime, try “The Panopticon” by Jenni Fagan (a first time novelist herself) if you want a more harrowing account of a similar story. I’m not sure why this book hasn’t received more attention. Perhaps in her native Scotland it has. For me, “The Panopticon” and I.J. Kay’s “Mountains of the Moon” are by far the best books I’ve read this year, despite what the Booker judges may feel.

And yes, I don’t think this is a book for you. That doesn’t mean it is not entirely acceptable to readers with other tastes (and you remember correctly that I recently made that comment about bloggers correctly warning me off books ).

Perhaps I’m being picky.

It sounds like it’ll be a hit with book clubs Kevin, but you’ve done me that great service one blogger does another of giving me enough information to let me know this is one I can pass on (I think I saw you make that comment to someone else recently, it really is very true).

Perhaps the best test of Y will be how it settles over the next couple of months. I am sometimes guilty of letting annoyances that I call sentimentality get in my way as I am reading a book — and find that they fade later while the stronger impressions remain. Then again, sometimes the whole book fades.

But, I did find Celona strayed uncomfortably close to sentimental TV Movie territory occasionally and only just avoided mawkishness towards the end (the petting zoo was a bit much). Though I don’t think I would have wanted a different ending (and indeed without it Shannon wouldn’t have been able to tell a lot of her or Yula’s story, which presumably she learns from her mother and grandfather) it felt too tidy. And I thought the fact that nearly everyone Shannon encounters is kind and the right person at the right time to assist her in her progress was a bit too convenient. But largely the author won me over and like you I think it shows a great deal of promise. I’ll certainly look forward to whatever Celona writes next.