Rating: 
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Lewis arrives back from prison in 1957 now at the age of 19 and of course that has me wondering what he went to prison for. Time then reverts back to a much younger Lewis and follows his childhood tales which include an extremely traumatic event, which changes Lewis to a quiet, withdrawn little boy that it appears nobody really understands.
The book moves forward in time and we find out why Lewis was in prison. Lewis appears lost with himself and with the opposite sex, but is drawn to differing girls/women that may be able to fill a small part of his needs. Lewis' family and their neighbours are very much central to the story and they all seem to carry so many demons within them. Kit is a neighbouring young girl that has always been drawn to Lewis and she feels she understands him the most, but he tends to cast her aside as he feels she is not for him. The community in general takes against Lewis for various reasons and Lewis feels in some way he must fight back after hurting himself physically and mentally for so long.
I found this a very difficult book to describe in terms of what happens as I didn't want to give away any spoilers, as I feel it's a book that just needs to be read and absorbed. One cannot help feel so sorry for Lewis and want to shake everybody around him so that they can see what he is going through. However everyone in the book does appear to be suffering in various ways. I feel that this was an exceptionally well written novel that is dark, disturbing, distressing and depressing, but at the same time a most wonderful, colourful, absorbing read. As I was reading it I felt things were going from bad to worse and it seemed as if Lewis was doomed to fail in anything he tried to achieve. For me it was a book that had me desperate to find out what happened next and was very difficult to put down. I was absolutely amazed to find that this was the author's debut book, will definitely look out for the next.
Read this book - I don't believe you'll be disappointed.
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As someone who works with hurt young people -kids that have not been parented well, have been abused or not heard or understood, this novel touched my heart. It has layers to it. It has pace and drama. It potrays the lack of emotional literacy of the 1950's, the appalling attitudes that many British middle class and upper middle class communities had towards thier children in a detailed and poignant manner. It shows us the brutality and tragedy that can follow such neglect. Yet it also allows us as readers to glimpse the winds that shaped the likes of Gilbert, Alice, Tamsin. The ending is wonderful; Lewis finds his redemption not just through love but through his fight to win justice for the person he loves. In doing so he uncovers the wider hypocrisy. His isolation ends when he understands that the entire world and everyone in it has shades of grey. A truly beautiful novel. One of the best I have ever read. And a definite cure for those who harp on about the good old days. Superb.
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It's been highly entertaining reading the one- and two-star reviews of this book - poor saps all, lacking the basic human empathy or imagination to "get" the story of Lewis. Sadie Jones deserves all the plaudits she's received, because not only is this a note-perfect evocation of the time that happiness forgot, it's also brave, funny and bursting with characters. With the single exception of "Atonement" Ian McEwan has been living on borrowed time for years - Sadie Jones beats him into a cocked hat here. I can't wait for her next book.
Rating: 
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I read this novel with greater speed than usual, because I just so wanted something good to happen to Lewis - I was frightened for him! The novel starts by reminding us that in 1945 most young children hardly knew their fathers as they had been brought up by their mothers whilst the men were at war. Suddenly there's a man in the house and the dynamics of daily life changed dramatically for 7-year-old Lewis. Three years later, the centre of his life was gone and in the 1940/50's bereavemnt counsellors didn't exist, so how was this child expected to come to terms with his loss? Love from others, you would think, but his father shuts him out emotionally and five months later introduces him to his new 'mother'. This was middle-class life in the 50's - when keeping up appearances and a stiff upper lip were everything, and the rot was kept hidden. I wouldn't recommend reading this novel if you're at all depressed, because its content is quite terrible - the reader is spared nothing. Great writing though.
Rating: 
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Talk about over egging the pudding.Tradgedy upon tradgedy befalls our hapless hero Lewis...and he thoroughly deserves it!.He's an unsympathetic character who creates his own misery and then keeps wallowing in it.I just wanted to keep yelling 'lighten up you self pitying idiot'!.
Theres no light and shade with the remaining characters in this tedious tale and the 'baddies' are hilariously awful in a 'Snidely Whiplash' kind of a way.By the end,I fully expected someone to end up tied to a railway track with an express train approaching.
The author seems to have mistaken a gripping and suspenseful plotline and engaging characterisation with unremitting and ridiculous histronics.A tawdry,badly written melodrama.
