Carol Anshaw- Carry the One

Carol Anshaw's Carry the One was part of my library haul from the other week. 

The Plot: Returning from a wedding, a car filled with drunk and stoned guests accidentally run over and kill a child on a country road. The consequences of that night reverberate for the next twenty-five years, shaping the lives of all those involved. Siblings Carmen, Alice and Nick all react differently to the tragedy, and the novel follows their relationships and guilt.

If you enjoy novels about family dramas, this would be a good choice. The sibling relationship is beautifully observed, and anyone with brothers and sisters will recognise truths in Anshaw's novel. Carmen, the eldest, is an over-achiever, maternal and has strong convictions. Alice, is creative and talented, but has a disastrous love life. Nick is intellectual but self destructive.

Carry the One is good at balancing the small dramas of everything day life (marriage, parenthood, divorce etc.) with the far-reaching, life altering event of the car accident. Through a whole cast of well-developed characters, Anshew portrays a whole range of reactions to tragedy.

 

Terrorists with a strong work ethic

'"We are not keeping vigil through our country's darkest hour with a ridiculously pseudonymed hooker."`

-Carol Anshaw, Carry the One

library haul

A new library has opened up round the corner from where I live, so I went to check it out this morning. If you've read this post you'll know I'm pretty passionate/opinionated about libraries, so I'm really pleased that my local council has opened a new one within walking distance.

 The library is fairly small, but as you can see from the pictures I managed to pick up quite a stack. The books are all new as well, which is awesome, there's nothing worse than turning a page of a borrowed book and getting an unpleasant waft or discovering a bogey smeared into the pages.

I may have been a little bit greedy, as the books are only on loan for 2 weeks, but I'm currently kindle-less as I lent it to my mum (such a good daughter).

 Have a look after the jump for a further look at my choices, and for photos of pretty covers on the world's wrinkliest bedsheets:-