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Review by Ceri Padley

“Amongst the wave of new British writers, comes the touching debut of Isabel Ashdown. ‘Glasshopper’ is the story of a mother and son’s struggle to understand each other and cope with whatever life throws at them.

Thirteen-year-old Jake is just like any other boy on the cusp of puberty: new music and Saturday jobs are at the top of his agenda, while girls are the strange exotic creatures that must be looked at but not touched (particularly his pretty Classics teacher). But behind closed doors, Jake struggles to cope with his mother’s ongoing battle with depression and alcoholism. His father moved out a few weeks ago. So has his older brother, Matthew. That leaves Jake as the man of the house: the one who must remember to get him and little brother, Andy, up in time for school in the morning; the one making toast for dinner; and the one keeping a watchful eye over his mother to make sure she doesn’t get herself into any serious trouble.

However, as with any story, there is another side to it. While Jake begins his journey into adolescence, his mother, Mary, reminisces back to her younger years and takes a look at the people, places, and relationships formed, that helped to shape her life.

‘Glasshopper’ is the kind of debut you’d be excited about for any new writer. Spanning over a period of thirty years, and drifting from middle to working class Britain, this is a story that will warm your hearts, make you smile, and have you shedding tears. Ashdown’s narrative for both mother and son is perfectly crafted to build a couple of characters who you really believe in and are honest enough to have their good and bad sides.

The double narrative is also helpful to capture the innocence of childhood and the harsh realities of being an adult. While Jake looks up to his father and sees only emptiness in his mother’s eyes, Mary brings a maturity and emotional whirlwind of a past to her story that allows us to see the differences between her youth and Jake’s.

While ‘Glasshopper’ isn’t filled to the brim with adventures and incidents on each page, I still found myself eager to read on. The story is an observational one that takes you through what seems like every day events of real people’s lives. We don’t need a prolonged ‘Will they?/Won’t they?’ romance or a mystery revealed in every other chapter. The beauty of Ashdown’s writing is that readers are able to connect to the real characters presented and understand that life isn’t always all that easy.

We take the good in Jake and Mary with the bad and really want them to find each other long enough to know that they have someone to connect with. Every moment is understated in just the right way.

In a way, I almost find it hard to describe the book properly; ‘Glasshopper’ is a story carried by raw emotion and the importance of relationships, and no amount of synopsis building is going to justify that.

This really is a great start for Isabel Ashdown; her character representations, no matter what sex or age, are flawless, and her descriptions of small hometowns and country and beachside holidays create superb images to match the story.

It’s hard to know who to recommend this to without encouraging everyone to go out and buy it. Such a great range of characters within such a small group of friends and family is enough to keep anyone turning the page. Ashdown is a definite one to watch for in British literature, and I look forward to see what her next page-turner will be about.”

It was wonderful to see so many friendly faces at my book signing at Waterstone’s on Saturday.

Last week, my Godmother, Valerie, appeared unexpectedly at a book reading – we’d last met when I was just six months old.  It was very moving and she brought family photographs I’d never seen before.  I was deeply touched that she had tracked me down, and gone to the effort of coming all this way with her daughter Rachel.

Well, this weekend I had the pleasure of meeting one of my old Brownie leaders, and was able to apologise for being a very poor Brownie indeed.  I wasn’t very successful on the badge front, and I threw in the towel straight after the long-awaited Butlin’s trip . . .

A few old workmates and family friends popped in, some of whom I hadn’t seen for over twenty years, and I was delighted to chat to a couple of my father’s old colleagues, who had tales to tell from his Bishop Otter days.  Then there were all the other people I met for the first time – thanks to you for stopping by and buying the book.  And of course, thanks to Jonathon and the Waterstone’s team for making me so welcome.

A number of you told me you were sorry to have missed the Simon Mayo interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, so I’ve pasted some of the highlights below:

On Thursday 29th October, I visited the BBC studios in Wood Lane to meet Simon Mayo and his team of reviewers, to hear their verdict on my debut novel, Glasshopper.  Here are some of the things they had to say:

It’s an incredibly powerful, intense book.  Very, very real. Boyd Hilton, reviewer

Mary is brilliant; she’s absolutely present throughout. Lemn Sissay, poet, writer & critic

It’s an incredibly convincing boy’s voice; an incredibly convincing woman’s voice.  It’s very subtle, and subtlety is the key to this.  The tragedy is happening behind the words and behind what people are saying, and you could be forgiven for wanting to read it again to catch all the nuances. Joel Morris, reviewer

It made me cry.  That’s the thing about this novel.  It’s so emotional that it made me cry. Boyd Hilton, reviewer

A great story.  It is incredibly sad but it’s incredibly enjoyable, like watching a horror film; you enjoy being frightened. Lemn Sissay, poet, writer & critic

It reminded me of Iain Banks.  If you enjoyed The Crow Road, I think you’ll get lots out of this book. Joel Morris, reviewer

The way it worked with the two narratives colliding felt like watching a slow motion film where there’s a car parked on the railway tracks and there’s a locomotive coming towards it – and you can’t look away. Boyd Hilton, reviewer

I love it.  It’s a book that’s very fast and really rewarding as a reader.  There’s a wrenching end to the first chapter that switches the mood and absolutely hooked me for the rest of the book. David Vann, author of Legend of a Suicide

I hope to see you all again in the near future.  In the meantime, I’d better get back to novel number two . . . !

Glasshopper by Isabel Ashdown was named as one of the Observer Review Books of the Year 2009:

“A tender and subtle novel about alcoholism that explores difficult issues in deceptively easy prose.”

As chosen by Francesca Segal, alongside The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton, An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay, The Mayor’s Tongue by Nathaniel Rich and The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey.

On 19th November the reviewers for the London Evening Standard named the titles that have meant the most to them over the past 12 months.

Reviewers included journalist and author Juliet Nicolson, who chose Sebastian Barry’s Costa Book Awards winnerThe Secret Scripture, and Glasshopper by Isabel Ashdown:

“Isabel Ashdown’s first novel Glasshopper (Myriad Editions, £7.99) is a disturbing, thought-provoking tale of family dysfunction, spanning the second half of the 20th century, that guarantees laughter at the uncomfortable familiarity of it all.”

You can see all the books on the list by clicking here.

Bookersatz

In Glasshopper, Isabel Ashdown has created a beautifully poignant, multi-layered family story.

The novel presents a vivid portrayal of dysfunction as it is handed down through generations, and of the little accidents of life that make us what we are. Questions are raised about what causes dysfunction in a family or an individual and what aggravates it.

Throughout the unfolding story, echoes of tragedy are counterpointed with moments of ecstasy where it seems that everything must inevitably turn out all right.

The story is told from two points of view, that of Jake and that of Mary. We start with Jake in his teenage years and then move backwards and forwards between his narrative and that of Mary, starting when she is a young girl.

For me, one of the most beautiful things in the novel is the depiction of the relationship between Mary and her sister Rachel. But this relationship holds the seeds of the tragedy that unfolds later in the narrative. One of the strengths of the story is the way that its shocking revelations are cleverly and subtly placed within the action.

At heart, this is Jake’s story and the story of his complex family. But there are also some achingly good cameos. Some of the best are: Mr Horrocks and his dog Griffin (we get some great glimpses into his world); Sandy – ‘nice enough, but a bit rough’; and the ultimate fly in the ointment, Gypsy.

Isabel Ashdown’s writing is full of beautiful language and evocative symbolism. We understand the story better through the imagery of birds flying free, moths getting trapped and Icarus being burnt. There is glorious detail in the writing – like the description of the gob-stopper falling out of Jake’s mouth and onto the pavement – which renders it truly memorable.

I was very impressed by the masterful handling of the chronology and the weaving of the two different points of view in the story as it rushes towards its climax.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt, Bookersatz

Drink &

Drugs News

“Glasshopper is skilfully written and hard to put down.  A page-turningly good read . . . a perceptive insight into alcohol’s hidden harm.”

“Set in 1980’s suburban Portsmouth; this is an intimate, lyrical and deeply moving portrait of a family crumbling under the weight of past mistakes. Balancing Mary, the mother’s own story against ten turbulent months of her son Jake’s life; this perceptive novel tells of the irrepressibility of the young teenager when his father and brother leave home and his mother plunges into alcoholism. Jake while still hero worshipping his father and supporting his brother occupies his thoughts with saving for his own hi-fi system, a growing interest in Greek mythology, which has more to do with his pretty classics teacher and watching out for his mother. After a visit to Mary’s estranged sister causes his mother to control her drinking and reconcile her relationship with his father, Jake is delighted when the first family holiday abroad is planned. Until when in rural France long-unspoken family truths begin to surface and his personal odyssey unwittingly brings about a dramatic conclusion. This is an outstanding debut novel.”

The Observer Review

“This novel was attracting attention even before it came out – it won the Mail on Sunday novel prize for an extract published last year.  Tender and subtle, it explores difficult issues in deceptively easy prose.  It’s the early 1980s and Jake is 13; his parents have separated, his mother, Mary, is destroying herself with alcohol and his older brother has run away.  Jake is caring for his mother and protecting his little brother as best he can.  On weekends, when he’s not snatching fleeting moments with his Dad, he works in the paper shop to save for the midi system of his dreams.  Jake and Mary narrate in turns, the two perspectives woven deftly together.  We meet Mary in her own childhood and as she’s falling in love with Jake’s father; across the decades, Ashdown tiptoes carefully through explosive family secrets.  This is a wonderful debut – intelligent, understated and sensitive.”

Reviewed by Francesca Segal, alongside Beauty by Raphael Selbourne and Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista by Amy Silver.

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