Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (@blablafishcakes)

Hello bookworms,

I’m a little bit behind with my blog at the moment because earlier this week I had my PhD viva which I’m very relieved to say that I passed with minor corrections. The last few weeks have been a bit single-minded working towards that but now things are almost back to normal I’ll try to catch up.

‘Gillespie and I’ by Jane Harris was the book we discussed at the March book group meeting. At the beginning I couldn’t stand it, the prose in the prologue was very wordy and I think in need of editing, but as the book went on I found myself being drawn into it. This is a good example of where book group has made me read something that otherwise I would have abandoned. I know that several other members of our book group also struggled at the beginning but I think we all forgave Harris by the end of the story.

‘Gillespie and I’  really surprised me. The cover art and blurb led me to expect a fairly run of the mill historical novel telling the life of an artist through the eyes of one of his old friends. I do enjoy a historical novel and am quite happy to be seduced by atmosphere just as much as by plot. In reality, this is a very dark tale of child abduction that challenges your perceptions and really makes you wonder just how much you know about the characters. The whole story is told from the point of view of one woman and by the end it is far from clear how much of what you have read is the true version of events and how much is her selective memories. There was a lot of discussion about this at book group, which to me indicates a good choice of book because those stories that don’t hold any controversy don’t keep us chatting until the library closes. Our opinions on the guilt and innocence of the different characters varied and I think it was clever of Harris to tell a complete story while at the same time leaving so much open to the reader’s own imagination.

So, although I probably wouldn’t have read past the prologue without the prompting of book group, I am definitely glad I did – it is not very often that a book takes me so completely by surprise. I’ve now booked my tickets to see what the author has to say about it all when she talks at the Edinburgh Libraries event in September and am looking forward to hearing her view on things!

I forgot to take a picture of the cover of this one before I returned it to the library so I’ve taken the image from the book’s page on Goodreads.

Happy reading,

Vinx