Girl in the Making by Anna Fitzgerald

Jean Kennedy lives in dublin, Ireland as the second eldest in a growing family. A lot is expected of her as the eldest girl and her mother relies on her to help look after the little ones. Her story is told in her own words and we get to know her from the age of three up until her late teens. Jean is a good girl who works diligently at school and does as she is told at home, but life doesn't always behave fairly and from a young age she discovers that you can get into trouble no matter how good you try to be.

Her parents have their own problems as her Momma struggles with her mental health, which is made worse by post-natal depression, and her father who she always refers to as HE or HIM, often makes matters worse with his judgemental attitude. Things take a bad turn for Momma and when she is not really coping at all, HE brings home a young local girl to live in and help. All the little ones love this girl Tilly but Jean and Momma are not sure about her and don't like her changing the way they do everything.

There is a lot of sadness in this book and if you have a young girl in your family you will probably find it quite unsettling. A lot happens to Jean in the course of her childhood, and because she is a good girl, it's hard for her to speak up and get help when she so desperatly needs it. She lives in constant fear of upsetting her Momma as that will make her cry and get bad again, and if that happens her father will fly into a rage and the whole family will be unhappy.

This is a first novel for Anna fitzgerald and she has tackled a lot of very difficult subjects through the eyes of a child which leaves the reader to fill in the gaps but that is quite an effective way to get the message across. Overall a good read.

Comments

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