annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • Debut novel and encore
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Child abducted: The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

15/5/2015

17 Comments

 
Picture
Kate Hamer’s debut novel reminds me of a conversation a friend had with her pre-teen daughter after a relative’s baby had died. “It’s the worst thing imaginable to lose a child,” said my friend. “No,” insisted her daughter. “It’s much much worse to lose a parent.” The Girl in the Red Coat doesn’t ask us to choose: it explores the nightmare scenario of a child going missing from the perspectives of both the mother and the girl.

Carmel Wakeford is eight when she becomes separated from her mother at a children’s storytelling festival (at which I think I detected a cameo role for the doyenne of children’s fiction, Jacqueline Wilson). A man who claims to be her estranged grandfather tells her her mother has been taken to hospital after an accident and that he’ll look after her now. A few days later, he gives her the devastating news that her mother is dead and her father wants her to remain with her grandfather. She’s taken to America to a new life on the fringes of society, moving between evangelical churches, where Carmel’s supposed “healing hands” are much in demand.

Meanwhile, her mother is far from dead and searching frantically for her daughter even in places she could not possibly be. As the days turn to months and the months to years, Beth must find a way of living with her grief, as well as the sense that she is ultimately to blame. Her devastating loss brings a new perspective on what is and isn’t important, so that she is able to mend the rift with her estranged parents and to accept, and even befriend, her ex-husband’s new partner. Yet there’s always a hole where Carmel has gone from her life.

Novels about missing children are bound to tug at the heartstrings, although each manages to do so in its own unique way. Nevertheless, Beth got me thinking again about Olivia in The Cold Cold Sea whose daughter seems to have drowned, although no body has been found, just short of her fourth birthday. Carmel’s predicament as reluctant saviour reminded me of Chipo, the albino woman who is considered even more disturbingly special, in the novel Zebra Crossing. And I was intrigued that, like Peggy in Our Endless Numbered Days, she was eight when she went missing, old enough to have some memory of her previous life, yet young enough to be taken in by an adult’s lies.

Over on the Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills is talking rocks, religious faith and connections. Her post, along with this novel (and especially Carmel’s situation) sparks a memory of another severed mother-daughter relationship. My friend’s mother, who has recently died after suffering from dementia for several years, was a healer in the spiritualist church. While she completely accepted her daughter’s scepticism about this, she insisted that I had within me some propensity to connect with the spirits and wanted me to have a “crystal”. As a staunch atheist, I found this quite difficult but, now she’s dead, it’s comforting to have that small piece of polished rock she gifted to me.

But I’m back to an alternative version of Beth’s experience for my 99-word story that shows a hard place and a connection:

Revenge fantasies kept me warm in bed. She’d lose her job; she’d crash her car; some thief would take her precious ring. The news infused my heart with joy. Let her learn how it feels to lose a husband.

The kids, though, mine and theirs, would lose a father.

I made a casserole, seasoned with rosemary, his all-time favourite. Thought I’d leave it on the doorstep, but the door opened before I could nip away. I took no pleasure from seeing her so unkempt. She opened her arms. We wept on each other’s shoulders. Soon we’d both be ex-wives.

Thanks to Faber and Faber for my review copy of The Girl in the Red Coat. Do you have a favourite lost child novel?

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
17 Comments
Charli Mills
15/5/2015 08:42:22 pm

Not sure I could sit with that idea of which loss is greater and actually write both perspectives. I've always though child abduction was the worse thing in the world -- the not knowing. What a debut novel.

I couldn't help but chuckle at your polished bit of rock, your communication to spirits. :-)

Touching flash that begins with those hard thought when we think we are so tough and full of anger. And then we confronted in person, the underlying sorrow surfaces. Grief is complicated and you show that in this flash.

Reply
Annecdotist
17/5/2015 10:40:55 am

Thanks, Charli – I didn't mean to imply that the author set out to ask which is worse, more that it reminded me of that conversation. But now it's also reminded me of one of your blog posts, I think about your daughter going astray among some watermelons or something? Terrifying idea.
Who knows, maybe in time that rock will connect me with some spirits?

Reply
Charli Mills
18/5/2015 07:54:35 pm

Yes, my eldest wandered off. I think most parents would find abduction a never-ending nightmare. How confusing for a child to grow up! About the time I graduated high school, a young 8-year old girl went missing from the area where I grew up. I always wondered about her just because we shared a home region. Turns out she was hidden away until she was in her 20s and forced to be a child bride, living in a shed in his back yard all that time! Ugh.

If that rock does, you'll need to send out an alert! :-)

Annecdotist
19/5/2015 03:59:54 am

Ha, ha, I'll do that Charli!
And yeah, children going missing send a chill through us all, no wonder people write books about it.

Norah Colvin link
15/5/2015 11:08:34 pm

Anne, your flash is brilliant: the tangle of emotions. It must be as difficult to know how one actually feels, let alone how one "should" feel. You have captured the hurt and confusion very well.
I don't think I'd enjoy that book though. Don't like to think of poor Carmel and what she may be expected to do with those healing hands. Then I wouldn't want to go through Beth's nightmare either: a mother's worst fear.

Reply
Annecdotist
17/5/2015 10:42:43 am

Thanks for that feedback, Norah. I'm worried you might be imagining worst places for Carmel's hands to go than actually happened – I think it was more that she wanted to be treated as an ordinary little girl, and go to school especially.

Reply
Sarah link
16/5/2015 05:29:47 pm

Oh, no way could I read this. I'll have nightmares from just your review. I try not to think about this. I think about it anyway. It was hard to tell if you liked it (unless it was because I was skimming).

Brilliant flash. Excellent take on a complex prompt.

Reply
Annecdotist
17/5/2015 10:46:41 am

I love the strength of your response, Sarah, even if you only skimmed! Sorry if I've given you my nightmares – but if that happens at least it means you're asleep.
I think you're right also in picking up that I wasn't as engaged with this novel as I might have hoped, but not really sure why as, with no little ones to lose, I'm not in the position of needing to protect myself from the subject matter

Reply
Sarah link
17/5/2015 07:22:06 pm

Haha! "Sorry if I've given you my nightmares – but if that happens at least it means you're asleep." That is true!

Hmm. It did sort of read like you weren't engaged. That's it. It didn't seem as though you disliked it but also not that you loved it. Well, they can't all be your cup of tea.

I missed your ending the first time reading, by the way. I'm very sorry to hear of your friend's mother. I'm glad you have the crystal to remember her by. And, you know, it's those who have spiritual abilities who can usually see others with that ability. :-) And being spiritual is VERY different from being religious. Just ask a really religious person (of any faith) or, you know, an atheist.

Annecdotist
19/5/2015 04:02:09 am

People have tried to explain to me what it means to be "spiritual" but not religious, but to me it sounds like being emotionally connected to other people and to the natural world. Perhaps you'll convert me eventually?

Sarah link
20/5/2015 08:35:06 am

:-) Perhaps...

geoff link
17/5/2015 11:02:06 am

are right about books on child loss being difficult. While I have a very ambivalent relationship with McEwan his The Child in Time is, at least the first half very powerful (the ending sucks). Interesting idea of two views. I may just add this one.
The spiritualist takes me to Beyond Black by Mantel. Not sure this worked for me but it does throw up a lot of the oddities and inconsistencies of such a profession and does have a lot of clever humour. Glad you kept the gem though. Tangible memory joggers are very useful I find.
And finally your terrific flash; that is a perfect example of how to do flash well; a detailed story, three characters and a twist at the end. Clever.

Reply
Annecdotist
19/5/2015 04:05:40 am

Thanks, Geoff. I enjoyed A Child in Time, but it's a very long time since I read it and can't remember the ending, perhaps that's because it wasn't all that good.
Beyond Black is a good link here (I have a copy signed by the author *smiles smugly*) – the connection with the spirits and the reasons behind it were quite disturbing and I wasn't sure about the humorous treatment of the topic. Yet it is perfectly consistent with her first two novels which were similar in both topic and tone.

Reply
Voula link
19/5/2015 05:22:30 am

A Child in Time was given to me when my daughter was three years old, and was responsible for the poor kid being kept on a curly wurly wrist strap for years. More recently I read Daddy Love by Joyce Carol Oates - Also tells an abduction story from the PoV of both child and mother. The boy child is abducted by a paedophile - so it's not for the faint hearted reader. It still haunts me.

Reply
Annecdotist
21/5/2015 02:43:58 am

I haven't come across that one, Voula, but certainly sounds like a rough read. But these things happen, and I suppose fiction needs to reflect that.
I wonder if your daughter's forgiven you yet? 😉

Reply
Voula link
21/5/2015 01:34:36 pm

She's working it through in therapy Anne......!!

Annecdotist
22/5/2015 05:31:02 am

I should think so! Keeping our colleagues in a job!




Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom