Claire Parkin

I wonder how many people are old enough (that would be me!) to remember the very dark, rather lurid psychological horror film 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane' because it kept popping into my head as I was reading. It's many many degrees removed from this, of course, but there is just a teensy essence of similarity.

We have two women, 'friends' since childhood, one now in a wheelchair, living together in their dotage, but who actually aren't very friendly to each other at all. They are both rather toxic and not wholly likeable and you do, albeit a bit uncharitably, consider they are actually well suited to each other.

It makes for difficult reading sometimes, but, it is deliciously dark and twisted and well written. I didn't foresee the ending…the 'gosh, I didn't see that coming' finale is invariably the icing on a cake of a good read.… (altro)

Any book that has a character's name in the title is always going to get my attention. Add to that two friends with a love/hate relationship, one a former novelist with a notion that something is going to happen in her final hours, and I'm sold.

Muriel and Ruth have known each other all of their lives. Now both aged 76 they share a home, with Ruth being an unofficial carer for Muriel. They spend their time drinking soup and playing Scrabble, with Ruth seeming extremely put upon, but my goodness, there is so much that lies beneath the surface of this fantastic multi-layered story.

I don't intend to delve too far into the plot as I think what makes it so delicious is that I had no idea of the hidden depths of Moo and Roo's (yes, really!) friendship. Let's just say it's super toxic and leave it at that. Ruth narrates the story and she is the very definition of an unreliable narrator. She has very little self-awareness and it made me contemplate the old nature/nurture debate.

This book is a brilliant debut from Claire Parkin. It goes back and forth between the present and the whole of the two women's lives, filling in the blanks and building up the resentment and jealousy between them, even though on the face of it the pair are best friends. From the opening page when Muriel suddenly announces she is going to die in exactly seventy-two hours, to the gloriously twisted ending, via some dark deeds and manipulative actions, it captured my imagination and captivated my mind. There are some comical moments too so this book really has it all. I thought it was superb and fascinating and expertly constructed.… (altro)