"The one that got away."
The first YA novel from an esteemed MG author is always an intriguing prospect and I think Zillah Bethel will surprise her fans with this short but powerful text, which is darkly comic and even a touch macabre. It certainly does not set out to flatter Port Talbot or its characters, but it is utterly convincing both in setting and characterisation.
Port Talbot, as the cover depicts, has a coastline dominated by the steelworks and the book is structured in sections relating to the steelmaking process. This and the opening with its wryly comic list of The Players and Stuff gives the reader clues as to what will follow, although this is not a book which is heavy on exposition or explanation, rather it is an impressionistic stream of consciousness and full of atmosphere.
Our main narrator is Charlene, although we also have Apricot Jones’ contributions written as diary entries. The two of them stumble their way through life without any real plan or any aspirations, except Apricot’s rather vague desire to leave Port Talbot. The relationship between the two girls is one that is finely balanced, they share a deep love, but are brutally aware of each other’s ‘flaws’.
We gradually understand what has brought them to the point when we first meet them and cannot help but empathise with their experiences. The tiny, brilliantly observed details of their lives and of the characters who surround them are authentic and relatable to many, although the trigger warnings at the front of the book are well placed. This really is an extraordinary and exciting piece of writing.
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