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NOT ALL TARTS ARE APPLE
by Pip Granger
Poisoned Pen Press, October 2002
219 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 1590580338


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Rosie was living a very happy life in Soho during the summer of 1953. She adored her Auntie Maggie and Uncle Bert (whom she knew were not her parents); had lots of good friends at their restaurant and really didn¼t mind going to school. In her neighborhood folk were from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and they all pitched to help one another.

One day at recess Kathy Moon told her Maggie and Bert weren¼t really her parents, „Your Mom¼s a tart¾ (1). ÝRosie didn¼t know what that meant, but she knew she didn¼t want her Mum called that name-so she punched Kathy. Naturally, she got in big trouble. Since she knew who her mum was (the Perfumed Lady (1) who stopped by the restaurant occasionally) she also started to worry she might be taken by her mum from the only home she knew and the people she adored. Ý

When Maggie and Bert call in the lawyer Sharkey Finn, to draw custody documents, it is only the beginning of a long summer of both fun and worry. Too many people become too interested in Rosie¼s roots. Not only that, it begins to become pretty dangerous.

I fell in love with Maggie and her family as soon as I started this book. ÝThe story is told from the point of view of a child who is a few years past 7 (her age in 1953), but still an innocent. Rosie narrates the whole tale so we only see, hear, and go where Rosie goes. She blithely listens to everything she can and shares some rather adult events in a very matter of fact manner. It is obvious that some things are way over her head, but she is not frightened, nor is her naivetÈ affected. Rosie lives in a neighborhood where everyone pretty much is accepted as they are; where prostitutes, Italian deli owners, shady lawyers and small time crooks live and let live. It is also a neighborhood where children are loved and protected.

An adult book that is narrated by a child could easily become precocious, boring, precious, or worse, about „a bad seed¾ãPip Granger avoids this by staying true to her character. The reader is as engrossed as if she were sitting down listening to a fascinating story about a friend. ÝThe fact that Ms. Granger is a magnificent story teller doesn¼t hurt either. Do not be misled, this is an adult novel.

It is satisfying that the publisher allowed the cockney phrases, the rhythm of the dialogue, and British nomenclature to remain. It was much like watching a really good, old, black and white British movie where it was assumed the American audience was smart enough to figure it out.

Reviewed by Martha Hopkins, August 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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