The List of Suspicious Things, by Jennie Godfrey - Sue
I really loved reading this beautifully written book, not least because it reminded me of my own 1970s ‘youth’. From the swirly patterned carpet, Holly Hobbie dolls, sparkly lipgloss, and a manhunt for a serial killer that gripped and terrified the nation - The Yorkshire Ripper.
This is the story of two girls, Miv and Sharon, at first unlikely friends, growing up in a 1970s Yorkshire mill town. Miv decides that discovering the identity of the Ripper will stop her troubled family from moving away from her friend and all she knows, so the girls buy a notebook and begin to compile a list of suspects. Some are people they know, and others they come to know as they begin to investigate.
Mr Bashir the friendly Asian shopkeeper, Mr Ware their bullying teacher, elderly Arthur the rag and bone man, Jim Jameson the lorry driver, Gary Andrews husband of lovely Helen, and some closer to home. Could any of these people really be the Yorkshire Ripper? Their investigations open a window into the lives of their suspects and the secrets they keep from those around them, even those they are closest to.
It is also a coming of age story of Miv and Sharon; how their lives are changed forever by the people they come to know and love. All the characters are really well written, and you come to care about them, and sometimes feel angry or sad about what happens to them.
I read the end of the book through a haze of tears and smiles. But although this book reveals the darker side of life, with themes of racism, domestic abuse, violence, and murder, it is in the end a story of family, friendship and most importantly love.
Sue
