‘Glasshopper’ by Isabel Ashdown

Isabel cites three favourite reads in the appendices to her debut novel, ‘Glasshopper’: ‘The Wasp Factory’ by Ian Banks, ‘The Cement Garden’ by Ian McEwan and ‘Puffball’ by Fay Weldon. These being favourites of mine too, it’s no surprise that I got on very well indeed with this book. And it’s also easy to see how these books have influenced Isabel’s writing – the voices of children, microcosms of family life, the tensions in relationships, battles for trust and the impacts of betrayal -  malfunctioning, dysfunctional “miniature disasters and minor catastrophes” in the words of K.T. Tunstall.

‘Glasshopper’ is a ‘timeslip’ novel and the tale of a family under pressure told from the mother, Mary and her son Jake’s points of view. The story starts in the 1950′s and finishes in the 1980′s and is mainly located in the south of England – Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. Jake’s voice rings true – his character is very clearly drawn. Isabel deals with Mary’s alcoholism and accompanying mental illness with sensitivity and unpeels the cruelty that the nearest and dearest are capable of inflicting on one another unflinchingly. At times the novel felt like a series of vignettes, glimpses into the lives of the characters but all of the threads pulled together and finished with the kind of climax you know is coming but you are hoping, praying won’t happen.

Isabel has very kindly agreed to do an interview with me so keep an eye out for that appearing on this site!