The View on the Way Down – Rebecca Wait

Contemporary Fiction
4*’s

A View on the Way Down is a book with depth but not one without a wry sense of humour.

Part one is mainly told from Emma’s viewpoint, a teenage girl who is a fervent member of the Christian Union; her world unravels when the `cool’ girls decide to join. With life at school becoming ever more miserable she reflects on the death of her brother Kit and the disappearance of her other brother Jamie.

Later on in the book we get to see quite why and how this tragedy happened and why. We have insights into Jamie’s life before and after Kit’s death, his father Joe’s response to the tragedy revolves around his shed and Rose his mother retreated into creating sumptuous dishes for the family, not helping Emma’s weight issues. All these characters are well rounded, ones that I will miss now that the last page has been turned, which in my opinion, is the sign of a good book.

This is one of those books that truly earns the sobriquet poignant and although it keeps well away from being mawkish it left me with a real sense of sadness for the whole family. This book deals with a subject that most of us shy away from but Rebecca Wait handles all aspects with delicacy and a lightness of touch making it an accessible read.

I received my copy of this book through the Amazon Vine Programme.