Quite good

Good story ..goes on a bit..never seems to get to truth..Another frustrating end..Could be more indepth..

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6 people found this helpful

Well thought out story

Frustrating main character and none of the characters were at all likeable but the story held my attention until the end

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gripping

hooked from the first chapter. well written totally gripping. author has a good imagination amazing

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A gripping listen from start to finish!

This was a really great listen that kept me gripped all the way to the end! The contrast between Ruth being heartbroken for her children's deaths set against the prejudice and misogynist opinions of the police force is done really well and makes you realise the struggle women had (and often still do) back in the 60's for being independent, wearing certain outfits or having relationships with men out of wedlock.

We are told right at the beginning that Ruth went to prison for deaths of her children and therefore the books focus is about how the police came to convict her. I think the real questions this book makes you ask if what was Ruth really on trial for in the end? The murder of her children or her behaviour as a woman deemed inappropriate by a world run by men.

It was such a fascinating listen and the dual narration of the book between Ruth and the Journalist covering the story worked perfectly. I would highly recommend!

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10 people found this helpful

A depressing tale about victim blaming

This is a deceptively feminist book showing how society portrays women and how they are expected to behave. At first it resembled Albert Camus' The Stranger in which the protagonist is victimised for not behaving the appropriate way after a death. But it looked further into how a mother is essentially blamed for killing her children because she partook in inappropriate behaviour following their deaths. The book is intelligent because it leads the reader away from thinking about the real killer and focuses on the mother. Right until the end you almost forget what the story is really about. Surprisingly enjoyable.

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Wow, this one stays with you

American crime literature at its best. Great plot, interesting characters , well constructed and . . . . no matiacal serial killers or super heroes.
The story stays holds the interest throughout and haunts the mind when finished.
Must find more by this author.

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Excellent

Recently I have become jaded with my selections but this is a little cracker...it captures a time and the eternal madomna/whore question so neatly...it wanted it to last forever.Brilliantly written and narrated...a magnificently flawed heroine...try it

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Intense poignant thriller.

This thriller ticks all the boxes. Wonderfully observed, meticulously plotted and beautifully written . This book bends the genre half tense courtroom drama half Shakespearean tragedy. It is also the most genuinely feminist book I have read for a very long time exploring what it truly means to be a woman and a mother.

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Great performance

Really great performance, the story just felt a little obvious at times and you knew what the characters were going to say next.

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A Glamorous Suburban Housewife v The Legal System

Any additional comments?

This story is based on real events in 1960s New York and concerns the disappearance of two young children from their mother Ruth's apartment in Queens. They are later found dead and Ruth is charged, after a blundering, masochistic investigation by local police, with their murder.

Ruth protests her innocence but her subsequent behaviour is interpreted by the police, her local community and the wider world as evidence of her guilt. No-one seems to consider that her behaviour might be her way of handling her grief. A local reporter is first persuaded to report the case in a sensationalist way but as he begins to observe Ruth and question her friends and neighbours, he begins to fall under her spell. He is gradually persuaded of her innocence and sets out to help prove it, even at the expense of his dream job.

The problem Ruth faces is that she is an intelligent, frustrated woman who is trapped in a life of domesticity and motherhood. She loves glamorous clothes, make-up and looking 'just right' but from the moment she moved into her neighbourhood her neighbours, young and old, have formed negative opinions of her. She is separated from her loving but boring husband and although she loves her children she struggles to cope with everyday life and the role of single mother. Her use of alcohol as a prop, her frequent trips to bars and clubs and her many boyfriends and active sex life all provide talking points for the neighbours when the police are looking for witnesses and evidence against her.

Ruth is eventually charged with murder but the case is rooted in misogyny and failure to investigate other possible suspects in any meaningful way. Is she being charged with murder on the basis of her lifestyle and morality or on hard evidence?All well and good so far. But then comes the trial and we discover that the piece of evidence which the police claim to be a clincher is actually very suspect. Maybe things were different in 1960s America, but the witness (and the defence lawyer's response to the evidence) certainly would be laughed out of court today, I feel.

But my main criticism of this story is that there was a huge plot hole/contrivance towards the end of the trial which I am amazed the book's editor did not address. At a key point the story dissolved into farce for me because I could not believe that lawyers would let various claims go unchallenged.

Having said that, the final half hour of the story was brilliant; the denouement was a surprise I did not see coming. Deftly written, poignant, moving and sympathetically narrated.In many ways Emma Flint's novel is an accomplished and interesting read. The quality of the writing was great and the story was compelling. I could see it all going on in my head and could happily watch it on TV or in the cinema ( with plot revisions.)

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7 people found this helpful