As well as writing I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently. But not reading just for pleasure, I’ve been trying to read like a writer and analyse the structure of books, how character is portrayed and how the character arcs are developed throughout the story.
Mostly I’ve been reading romance novels as that’s the genre I write in but I also recently re-read Harriet Tyce’s Blood Orange.
I found this a compelling read but what fascinated me most was that I enjoyed it despite the fact that I didn’t find any of the characters likeable, especially at the beginning.
Alison is a barrister who is gaining success and has just been given her first murder case. She lives with her husband and her young daughter. Her husband is the primary carer for their child.
All is not good in their marriage, lots of passive aggressive comments coming from him but maybe he has cause because after work she goes out and gets so drunk she falls asleep in her chambers. She’s also having sex with another man. Nothing affectionate about it, just rather aggressive sex at the end of the night. She keeps telling herself that she must stop drinking and having sex with him but she can’t seem to stop herself. She’s on a downward spiral.
I found neither the husband or the lover at all appealing and while I did feel some sympathy for Alison, the fact that she kept degrading herself with her lover had me shouting at my Kindle screen in frustration.
Her redeeming qualities are her love for her daughter and the fact that she is really good at her job.
And yet, despite my lack of empathy I kept turning the pages and by the end of the novel was completely on Alison’s side. How Tyce made me empathetic to such a flawed character is nothing short of genius.
There were so many twists and turns in this novel that kept me intrigued as to what would happen next.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and will probably read it again at some point in the future.
What books have you been reading recently?
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