REVIEWBOOKS
Unbecoming
by Jenny Downham
★★★★
Seventeen-year-old Katie is in a state of turmoil.
Her usually orderly life of intensive studying,
planning for university and helping her uptight
recently divorced mother look after her brother
with learning difficulties is thrown into chaos. The
arrival of her disreputable grandmother, who she
didn’t know existed, sets a whole chain of strange
events in motion. Mary is having difficulties of her
own. She’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and
is trying hard to remember just who she is and
what happened in the past. To complicate matters
further, Katie is also trying to work out just who
she is and what her sexuality is and face up to the
cruelty and prejudice of her contemporaries.
There’s been a recent fashion for well written
teenage and young adult books having a crossover
appeal for all ages. This book is definitely a fine
example of how powerful this genre can be and why books
shouldn’t be pigeonholed. Award winning young adult fiction
writer Jenny Downham has pulled off an astonishing feat with
this beautifully written and moving book. The plot is
compelling and the mystery of what happened to Mary, along
with the tension of what is happening to Katie and her family
drives the story forward. On paper it sounds gloomy and grim:
a woman unravelling through advanced dementia and a
tortured teenager trying to find out who she is. It’s none of
these things. Nor is it just an issue-focused book. This is a
moving and funny novel that sensitively examines difficult
subjects as well as being an incredibly entertaining and good
read. There’s also plenty of humour to be found in the
situations that Katie finds herself in.
Downham has a natural ear for dialogue and a talent for
weaving a good tale. This book comes highly recommended
and will pass the time easily on a long autumnal evening.
CHRIS BRIDGES
amazon.co.uk
THEGAYUK | ISSUE 16 | NOV 2015 23